Trina Kay Prufer's message for STRS: Time to examine STRS, the financial institution, through a different lens. The current one deserves to be thrown into the dustbin of history, as in Ohio, it serves only the politicians, Wall Street and grifters.

From Trina Kay Prufer

December 13, 2024

My belief is that we are living in the 21st century, and a tremendous paradigm shift must occur in how we think about STRS.

STRS started out, about a hundred years ago, as a way to protect Ohio’s classroom teachers (mostly women) from poverty in old age and provide the dignity of being able to support oneself. It was progressive in its day, but also paternalistic in that it made all the decisions about how contributions were pooled and invested. It was based on TRUST that the institution was benevolent and would keep its word.

Well, that ship has sailed, and the TRUST has been broken, irreparably. That model no longer works, because the laws guaranteeing the defined-benefit ( with COLA) were watered down and manipulated. A contract is no longer a contract, and the ship has leaks. Everyone benefits at STRS except those who contribute.

When all is said and done, classroom teachers end up IN poverty, BECAUSE of STRS. The theft is in the -3% between the contribution rate and the normal cost, and the fact that the district contribution ( 14%) does not go towards paying benefits.

STRS today is a financial institution in charge of billions, without any laws protecting contributors. We were sold a financial product (an annuity) without any guarantees, transparency or protections. Arguably, when the numbers are looked at between the obligation and the reality, it's one of the biggest financial heists in history.

STRS should be regulated just like any other financial institution or investment company in the nation. If it was, we would not be seeing the excessive waste, outrageous perks and unfunded liability; investors would be paid what was legally agreed to, first. What happened to Ohio’s teachers is bait and switch. Why do STRS officials perpetuate the fiction that the COLA was never guaranteed in its documents? Is STRS really a premier, safe haven for our life savings? Has it delivered on the contracts we signed? Does the defined benefit deliver any value as compared to a 60/40 portfolio of diversified index funds invested over 30 years? What happens to Ohio’s classroom teachers after 20 years without a COLA?

Time to examine STRS, the financial institution, through a different lens. The current one deserves to be thrown into the dustbin of history, as in Ohio, it only serves the politicians, Wall Street and grifters. In its present form, does it deliver any financial value at all to Ohio’s classroom teachers? Would the STRS defined benefit even exist as a financial product in an open market of other, fully-regulated, competitive, choices?