I am asking this board to make an adjustment to the actuarially reduced benefit schedule for all those who retired in 2024. This would simply reflect the change from 34 years of service down to 33 years in a span of 5 months. I ask you to do this because it is the right thing to do for all 2024 retirees.

Lisa Barber's speech to STRS board

May 15, 2025

Good afternoon, I am here today to ask you to be equitable.

My name is Lisa Barber.  I retired from teaching in June 2024 with 32 years of service credit and a reduced benefit.  The required years of service at that time were 34. Just 5 months after my retirement, the board reduced the years of service for full benefits to 33. What new information did you have at that time that you did not have when I and many others retired?

Adding insult to injury, all retirees were given a December supplement IF they had been retired for a year or more. So, I did not receive a supplement.

Had the 33 years of service been in place when I retired, my pension (with the actuarial reduction) would be close to $500 more per month. I would not have delayed my retirement, however.

In the April 2025 update the board announced another decrease in years of service for an unreduced benefit. That was 9 months after I retired.  The new requirement is 32 years, then the years of service increase, then return back to 34 years beginning in 2032.  I am sure those still teaching find this arbitrary and inequitable. I certainly feel the two decreases in required service credit just months after my retirement were very unfair.

I am asking this board to make an adjustment to the actuarially reduced benefit schedule for all those who retired in 2024. This would simply reflect the change from 34 years of service down to 33 years in a span of 5 months. I ask you to do this because it is the right thing to do for all 2024 retirees.