Trina Prufer nails it once again: "STRS has deservedly lost the trust of its members. Because of its opportunistic practices, teachers have been left with few options other than other than to organize, fight through the courts, and vote for equity at the ballot box. No one should be surprised that the reformers are now at the helm."

Trina Prufer's Public Statement to STRS Board

May 16, 2024

My name is Trina Prufer. I retired in 2003 as a school psychologist after 30 years of public service. My husband was an anthropologist and also a member of STRS. He passed away in 2008, prior to retirement, in his 40th year of college teaching. 

I have read the complaint filed by Attorney General Yost however do not see his accusations as being credible. The complaint reads like a laundry list of exaggerations, misstatements and innuendo. No agreements were written, there were no financial transactions benefiting the accused, there was never a vote, and as far as I can tell, no laws were broken. There was never a conspiracy to illegally take over STRS. As many others have stated, winning an election is not a hostile takeover. 

What is missing is the big picture of Ohio’s teachers having reached the desperation point ….as without a stable cola for more than a decade, inflation eats away at the fabric of our lives. In any rational world, a retirement system that failed to deliver on its financial obligations would be the real crime. 

The essential facts of the matter are stark, unrefutably and ugly. Currently, STRS has a mandated contribution rate of 28% (that’s 14% each for teachers and taxpayers). The normal cost of the benefit is 10.93%. That is the worst ratio of teacher contributions to benefits in the nation for a teacher pension system in a non-Social Security State. Teachers are being exploited. STRS has failed its members, the taxpayers, the school districts and the profession of education in Ohio.

When the smoke and mirrors are cleared away, it seems evident that the power struggle which now engulfs STRS was completely predictable. It’s what happens when individuals slide down the economic ladder, having no hope for the future. A cost-of-living adjustment is essential to all workers. Yost’s interference amounts to election nullification…which seems to have been the goal. STRS has deservedly lost the trust of its members. Because of its opportunistic practices, teachers have been left with few options other than other than to organize, fight through the courts, and vote for equity at the ballot box. No one should be surprised that the reformers are now at the helm.