Trina Kay Prufer: What I do know is that another generation of teachers will not stand for this, or be so easily fooled. The demise of STRS, in its current form, is coming… am just hoping we can somehow triumph in the end.

From Trina Kay Prufer

October 27, 2023

Our voices are not heard - why must everything about STRS be deceptive and predatory?

The STRS building is protected like a fortress… membership is restricted to parts of the building; there are more security and concierge staff than they know what to do with. A fortune is spent on security…. paranoia reigns.

The mission and vision statements and goals say NOTHING, except the purpose of STRS is NOT to provide financial security or put membership first. Just lots of weasel words and empty platitudes. It’s not what the statements say that is important… it’s what they DON’T SAY.

The 2012 “reform” legislation guarantees that teachers will be harmed. All debt is offloaded to teachers and expenses are completely unchecked. Wasted time at monthly meetings is spent on the percentages bestowed on bonuses, when the real problem is theft of wealth from many thousands of teachers. Billions are shoveled into alternatives and real estate.

Nothing is what it seems… not the communication (or propaganda) department, the phony town halls, the 3 minutes allotted to teachers’ perspectives (only if they come to Columbus) the dog and pony show monthly meetings and the supposed “premier” status of the organization, which has financially harmed more teachers than any other teacher retirement system in the nation.

The essential problem is that membership was made reliant on empty promises of financial security. Our voices of reason and protest are muffled, denied and ridiculed.

How much more deception are we prepared to accept? Honestly, STRS functions more like a syndicate than a teacher pension system. Will the courts or possible control of the pension board save us? We can hope.

What I do know is that another generation of teachers will not stand for this, or be so easily fooled. The demise of STRS, in its current form, is coming… am just hoping we can somehow triumph in the end.