Robin Rayfield to STRS board: It may be time for the majority on this board to simply use their majority to force the changes desired.

Robin Rayfield's comments to STRS board

June 12, 2025

Good morning,

My name is Dr. Robin Rayfield, Executive Director of ORTA and a retired member of STRS.

On behalf of ORTA, I welcome Board Member Lynn Sautter Beal to the STRS Board. We wish you well in your efforts to improve the STRS pension system.

ORTA also welcomes Steve C. Toole as the executive director of STRS. Our success is dependent on Mr. Toole's success as he works to fix the many problems with our pension.

As our elected and appointed board, you deserve credit and acknowledgement for the slow but steady change in the operations at STRS. I think everyone can look back from this point and readily see that the discussions at the board level are filled with robust dialogue and energy. To think that only 6 years ago there were no discussions about any matters of importance. The board simply did as the management team and consultants directed.

With a majority of board members committed to change at STRS, it would seem like these changes would be simple. After all, for decades former board members simply used their majority to carefully construct a pension system that rewards the management team, the investment staff, and the consultants at the expense of the members.

The current majority, however, is different. It is comprised of teachers! Teachers always seek consensus or compromise. Solutions that have more staying power and are mutually satisfying. Political appointees, on the other hand, not so much. Politics is about power. Politics is a filthy profession. If a politician has one more vote than the other side, it is considered  a mandate!

It may be time for the majority on this board to simply use their majority to force the changes desired. For example, the PBI issue. With ample evidence that active management of our investments have not produced the value added as claimed by the people receiving bonuses, and the years long concerns related to phony benchmarks and or made up benchmarks that no one understands, it is time that STRS joins the vast majority of pension systems that pay no incentives.

I recognize the reluctance to 'wrestle with the pigs of politics' but there are times when it is impossible to stay out of the mud.

In closing, to support my contention that the STRS system enriches the employees at the expense of the membership, please refer to the chart from this morning’s presentation. Total compensation and benefits have grown 5% per year for a total of 25% over the last 5 years. Benefits, on the other hand, have grown just 5.5% over the same time period, 1.1% per year. [Please note the live link below the chart; the one in the chart is part of the photo.]

Live link: https://www.strsoh.org/_pdfs/2025-06-board-meeting-report-from-the-finance-department-presentation.pdf