Recent STRS events summarized by Tom Curtis

From Tom Curtis

May 18,2024

FYI -
On 5.11.24 the STRS board election results were announced, and reform candidate Michelle Flanigan soundly defeated her opponent 85 percent to 15 percent.

If you voted for Michelle, thank you to for taking the time to vote and to support reform at STRS! Her four-year term will begin on September 1st.

With this historic win, teachers throughout Ohio made clear their desire to instill much needed reform in the boardroom and hallways of STRS.

To stay up to date with the STRS and the health of our retirement, please consider checking out these excellent resources:

• Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association
• Ohio STRS Member Only Forum ("MOF")
• STRS Ohio Watchdogs

STRS is broken, it's up to us teachers to fix it. Please be aware that the politicians are vehemently against a reform Board.

From Ted Siedle, a former SEC lawyer who has investigated over $1 trillion in retirement plans, including STRSOH:

"Ohio teacher pension participants are leading a national crusade to eliminate Wall Street secrecy schemes at all public pensions across the nation.

"Governor DeWine and his cronies have rallied to thwart a valid teacher pension board election and support Wall Street secrecy looting our nation’s public pensions.

"Pension warriors participating in the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio have done a masterful job over the past 5 years organizing (through their Facebook groups and without union support), investigating and advocating for transparency at their pension. They have fought valiantly to restore integrity to a state teacher fund that has increasingly operated in secret for the financial and political benefit of others, including its bloated, richly compensated staff and Ohio elected officials. That’s not the way pensions are supposed to be run, i.e., for the sole or exclusive benefit of participants. But this is far more than an Ohio story.

"Although disappointing, it is no surprise that Ohio elected officials who depend upon Wall Street for campaign donations to fund their political ambitions have hastily—within days—united to thwart a valid pension board election and oppose overwhelmingly popular teacher transparency reforms. Prompted by bogus claims of a “hostile takeover” of the pension by Governor DeWine, Ohio politicians have predictably rallied to support Wall Street billionaires who have been looting the nation’s public pensions for nearly two decades."