Joan Bellner's speech (and some words of advice) to STRS board, June 21, 2024

From Joan Bellner

June 21, 2024

First of all, I would encourage all of you to truly engage in your roles as Board members & staff and STOP the perception that there are two sides to STRS… & that every question or new idea is an attack. Everyone at STRS– and beyond– must do his/ her part to obliterate this “two sides” idea– and begin to work together to ensure that our membership– both active and retired– is properly taken care of and that OUR fund is getting the biggest bang for its buck.

We ARE approaching 1:1 status and are becoming a mature fund; but, we are not quite there yet. The maturity of the fund needs to be considered–but not used as an excuse. It just means veteran Board members and staff need to get more creative in what you do. It wasn’t a surprise that the fund would get here–

EVERYONE at STRS should have been planning for it all along and for restoring benefits to all of the members– as quickly as possible– once those benefits were suspended.

A Board can– and SHOULD– have differing opinions among members.

Disagreement is an opportunity for insight, learning, understanding, and growth.

I would not expect all of you to be in full agreement all of the time–

But, I do expect three things:

1) Everyone on this Board and on the staff takes the reform concerns seriously and truly listens– considers the facts.

2) In the general meetings and in executive sessions, you’d either turn off -or- better yet, collect ALL cell phones in a basket, so that everyone is paying full attention to every discussion.

And, thirdly:

That every veteran Board member and staff member will listen for understanding– not simply to respond.

Winston Churchill said it best: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

Our membership is a passionate group. You must look past our anger & frustrations and see reality. You all must see, as some of you do, that finding a way to restore benefits is vital.

Many of our membership are dying without the pensions they thought they were getting. Many older retirees are living below the poverty level– not traveling the world, as some would have you believe.

Many actives cannot invest much besides the 14% they are contributing, because all have rising expenses for essentials, and many are raising families.

Most single– and many married– actives I know hold at least two jobs to make ends meet.

Current scientific studies, like those done by Rand and the AERA, show that the field of education is one of the most, if not THE most, stressful professions in the U.S.

Educators are twice as stressed as any other profession, including even active duty military. Educators are also 30-40% more likely to experience symptoms of Anxiety, compared to all other professions.

Our retirement should not add to that stress.

Thank you.

Joan Bellner

Retired member of STRS; 33 years of experience upon retirement, 1.5 years employed since (to make up for no COLAs in the first five years)