Karen Loeffler to STRS board: I’m still trying to digest the concept that the board has a greater fiduciary duty to the staff than to the members of STRS, the members whose pensions are the primary function of the organization.

Karen Loeffler's speech to STRS board

September 20, 2024

My name is Karen Loeffler. I retired in July 2012 from Pickerington Local School District, with 30 years experience as a high school classroom teacher and as a middle school counselor. I also spent countless hours as a volunteer in Pickerington, in a variety of capacities.

I was here in July for the special meeting, which was a difficult meeting for all concerned. But the moment that absolutely stunned me was when the attorney expressed his concern that, if the board did not approve bonuses for the investment staff, they would be violating their fiduciary duty to said staff. I’m still trying to digest the concept that the board has a greater fiduciary duty to the staff than to the members of STRS, the members whose pensions are the primary function of the organization. There are just no words to express my deep dissatisfaction with that situation.

I have never sat on the board. I don’t know what the legal constraints are under which you must operate. As a school counselor, I took a graduate-level course on the legal and ethical obligations of my profession. There were times I had to make difficult decisions, times that I did not make my fellow teachers happy, but I made every effort to follow the legal and ethical guidelines I had been taught, and which I was obliged to follow. I know that you find yourselves in similar situations, but your guiding light should be - must be - your fiduciary obligations to the members of STRS, both active and retired.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude for your willingness to serve on this board, in what is a difficult, challenging, and often frustrating position. And I, like many others, am deeply, deeply grateful for Wade Steen, who has gone above and beyond in tirelessly advocating on our behalf. You will be deeply missed, sir, and I wish you nothing but the best as you move on.