TeacherSpeak

Question: How can "they" (whose overly generous salaries and outlandish bonuses you pay) ban you from a lavish building (which you own and maintain for millions of dollars annually) for expressing your opinions (your constitutionally guaranteed right) towards the abusive policies of a broken institution that is supposed to protect your very livelihood but DOES NOT? What is wrong with this picture?

Response: Lots. But, STRS can choose to violate whatever state and federal statutes as they so desire. Just ask Edward Siedle, Rudy and Wade.

Dean Dennis' question to STRS board: What’s the interest in interfering with a pension that the ORSC always defends as one of the best? Is it the cry for transparency? Recently, an HBO documentary was about dark money in Ohio and political PAC monies. Is history repeating itself? We hope not.

Dean Dennis's speech to STRS board

May 15, 2025

Dean Dennis, 35 years in CPS, ORTA Executive Chair

The mission of ORTA is to monitor, advocate for, and protect the pensions and benefits of its members.

We endorse STRS Ohio Board candidates who actively advocate for transparency of investments and business practices for the State Teachers Retirement System’s pension. We believe investment practices shall not conflict with Ohio Revised Code 3307.15. In particular, Section 3307.15. (e), states, “Any statement of financial position distributed by the board shall include the fair value, as of the statement date, of all investments held by the board under this section.” ORTA believes that it has endorsed strong candidates and that membership has spoken.

However, ORTA is concerned that non-STRS members consistently interfere with the democratic process to the point where our Governor violated an obvious Ohio law right under the Ohio AG’s watch. It is troubling that there has been some form of government interference in each of the last three STRS elections.

The most recent report by the press suggests some legislators are considering reconfiguring our STRS board to place voting members in the minority. In addition to this storyline, the press has reported that our board has been asked to wait until next month to select a new Executive Director. The reasoning was to fill an appointed position vacant for nearly a year. This makes little sense since the selection process has been ongoing for months, and any new board member joining at this late date should ethically recuse themselves from voting. It’s a headscratcher that this request came from the Governor, State Treasurer, Leader of the House, and Leader of the Senate just days before the selection timeline.

What’s the interest in interfering with a pension that the ORSC always defends as one of the best? Is it the cry for transparency? Recently, an HBO documentary was about dark money in Ohio and political PAC monies. Is history repeating itself? We hope not.

Cathy Steinhauser to STRS board: Practice what you preach and do what you’re told by the courts!! Compliancy shows your transparency to all.

Cathy Steinhauser's speech to STRS board

May 15, 2025

Cathy Steinhauser – 35 Yrs., satellite teacher of Family & Consumer Sciences through Pickaway/Ross CTC for Circleville City Schools.

Since August of 2021, I have been attending STRS Board meetings. I have been speaking during public participation since May 2022 for a total of 27 Board meetings to date. STRS has had 2 speakers in the last couple years to instruct the board members on FIDUCIARY protocol. I’ve reinforced that instruction through my speeches giving analogies to help understand what consequences have occurred when their fiduciary duty isn’t fulfilled. I’ve observed over 2 yrs. that STRS staff expects the Board to comply with all aspects that cover FIDUCIARY duty, yet they do not practice what they preach.

The recent unveiling of the STRS staff authors of the Anonymous Letter written in 2024 was not only unethical, deceitful, back stabbing and undermining the Board, but they should be fired immediately and the Bar Association should be informed of this incident. Our STRS attorneys lied to the governor in order to sabotage OUR Board. Board members involved with an innocent presentation of an investment opportunity which would yield a safer, steady return on our pension monies in the coming decades was quickly rejected within maybe 15 minutes or less.

In review of the video of said Board mtg…that was the end of discussion for those who opposed. I am appalled that STRS had its own attorneys act as phony “whistleblowers” to discredit the 2 Board members' approach that used Warren Buffet’s recommendation for pensions to invest in long term value, index stocks rather than private equity. It was also unprofessional of AG Yost to believe in this anonymous letter without doing a thorough investigation at the time. Instead, he chose to sue 2 of the most ethical, honest, professional men I have ever met and call their presentation a “hostile takeover”! Really?? That’s a pretty extreme call but when individuals feel threatened, they tend to react irrationally.

As for the special meeting that the ORSC conducted (on May 8) last week because of this anonymous letter incident and, like Yost, swoop in and save the day by sticking their nose in OUR pension and fix things that don’t need fixed. The ORSC should be more professional and investigate this beforehand. Hey, maybe even talk to the 2 Board members involved and have a meeting to discuss what happened. Yet they too jumped to a conclusion believing AG Yost along with media reporters who seemingly hate teachers trying to save their pension by electing board members that align with the pensioner’s ideals!

As a fiduciary, it is expected that every single person that works here from the regular staff to the investment staff have the teachers' best interests in mind AT. ALL. TIMES.!! Undermining pensioners is deceitful. “STRS exists to pay teachers”…remember that!

Lastly, Mr. Siedle was granted a writ of mandamus ordering STRS to comply with Siedle’s first request in Feb. 2021 and again in June 2021 letters. STRS is in violation of their own fiduciary duty to pensioners! Practice what you preach and do what you’re told by the courts!! Compliancy shows your transparency to all.

Robin Beebe to STRS board: I am not only puzzled and dismayed, but rather appalled and disgusted at the ORSC-STRS Subcommittee's contemplated plan to remove all the legally elected active and retired STRS Teacher Board Members to be replaced by legislatively determined appointed persons. This will TOTALLY SILENCE our TEACHER VOICES and POWER. SHAME!!!

Robin Beebe's speech to STRS board

May 15, 2025

I am puzzled and dismayed as to why the reform Board majority has not yet rescinded/nullified the 2021 Resolution ORC, Section 3307.04 which gives the power to the Executive Director to override the Board. Make a motion, second it, vote, and rescind it!!! Please!!! I beseech you!!! YOU HAVE THE POWER!!! (Ding Chime)I am puzzled and dismayed why the 3% COLA denial is always justified and explained away. The usual mantra is it will cost $20 Billion to restore the 3% COLA. I wonder if this isn't misleading and stated that way partly for shock value? I ask you, how many years is that $20 Billion cost spread over? What is the cost for just ONE year??? Am I missing something here? (Ding Chime)

I My name is Robin Beebe. Retired Master's Degree Teacher of mainly 4th Graders, 2nd Graders, Kindergarteners, a smattering of other elementary grades and eight summers of Migrant Education. 35 years. Fremont City Schools and Perrysburg Schools. Retired 16 years. Denied my full 3% COLA's. Denied approximately $120,000.00 - KISS IT GOOD-BYE!!!

First for some good news!!! An Edward Siedle Victory!!! Writ of mandamus granted requiring STRS to respond to Public Records Request. Thank you, KARMA!!!

I am puzzled and dismayed over many STRS conundrums. You know how frustrating it is when a puzzle piece just does not fit!!! Sometimes, you just never do figure it out! (Hold up giant puzzle piece.)

First off, I am puzzled and dismayed at what historically prompts a Board Member to get up and leave the room when teacher members get up to speak during Public Comments. Also, why is it that some Board Members and staff will not look at us, as we teachers "stand and deliver". (Ding Chime)

I am puzzled and dismayed why the Board is even contemplating an 8.8% raise for STRS staff employees. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Surely, you jest???? This is way out of line. You do NOT have to go there. You do NOT have to grant this. No one will leave because of no 8.8% raise. Think about it. They are not going to give up their PERS pensions! They have high paying jobs currently! They have perks! These unstable economic times are not a good climate to go job hunting. And, if some employees leave, so be it. It is an opportunity to trim excessive staff and reduce costs. It will be a "natural pruning" that very much needs to be done. (Ding Chime)

I am puzzled and dismayed with the practice of awarding PBI's, i.e., BONUSES. The Board does NOT have to award bonuses. It is NOT in the Board Policy. A mass exodus is purely speculative. I doubt it will happen.  And it is truly NOT the Board's fiduciary duty to staff, as the AG's attorney advised. There is NO SUCH THING as fiduciary duty to staff. Correct me if I am wrong? (Ding Chime)
\I am puzzled and dismayed at how we have STRS attorneys that are supposed to work for us, that are seemingly working against us. I am stunned that two of our lawyers are alleged to have helped draft the anonymous, accusatory letter of allegations against Wade and Rudy. YIKES!!! CRICKEY!!! Correct me if I am wrong. (Ding Chime)

Lastly, I am not only puzzled and dismayed, but rather appalled and disgusted at the ORSC-STRS Subcommittee's contemplated plan to remove all the legally elected active and retired STRS Teacher Board Members to be replaced by legislatively determined appointed persons. This will TOTALLY SILENCE our TEACHER VOICES and POWER.  SHAME!!! (Ding Chime)  SHAME!!! (Ding Chime)  SHAME!!! (Ding Chime)

Trina Prufer: Was ruining the financial lives of retired teachers just the collateral damage in this much larger plan?

From Trina Prufer

May 16, 2025

The big lie in the anonymous letter …

Actually, there many lies and distortions in the letter; however, the BIG one is the FRAMING of a free and fair election as a HOSTILE TAKEOVER.

As I have said before, STRS cannot be taken over by private interests. WHY? Because the composite of the board is specified in the ORC. Of its 11 members, 7 are to be educators.

Over the past three years (usually in May, after an election), there have been some pretty dramatic, theatrical, duplicitous power moves coming out of the Governor’s office. First it was the illegal firing of Wade Steen… then when he was reinstated, Price’s illegal ending of a board meeting… and last year, the anonymous letter accusing two board members of having profited from their interest in changing the investment strategy to an index-based approach.

Now we have the ORSC using the anonymous letter as the basis of taking total control of the STRS governing board. Does anyone see a pattern?

Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, educators have always had the power to control their own destiny. They just did not know how to use their ruby slippers…. it‘s called voting for candidates who truly represent their interests.

What do members want? Retirees only want what was obligated by the State of Ohio in the defined-benefit plan in effect at the time of their retirement…. financial security. All teachers require a fair benefit that does not diminish over time, leading to poverty in old age.

Our reform board members have worked tirelessly in using their newfound majority in ways that are ethical, reasonable and always within the guidelines set forth in STRS polices and the ORC. Contrast this to the underhanded power plays coming out of the DeWine administration.

The big lie in the anonymous letter is really about something much larger than an imaginary “hostile takeover”. When viewed in the context of BOTH the Governor’s nefarious actions AND the actual laws passed by the Ohio Legislature, the intent of the anonymous letter becomes pretty murky. Was it just another ploy in diminishing the role of public education in the lives of Ohio’s children? I hate to pose this question… but it must be asked. Was ruining the financial lives of retired teachers just the collateral damage in this much larger plan?

TeacherSpeak

Like Ohio’s property tax revolt, a tsunami is heading toward legislators by the STRS stakeholders reform movement. Ohio politicians have refused to deal with property tax reform. They waited too long and now it is on their front doorstep.

This dark money scheme created by Wall Street and Ohio politicians is the single greatest detrimental effect damaging the pension fund. Personal gain has replaced any sense of fiduciary duty.

Likewise, they refuse to give up the looting of STRS. Call it what you want…legal embezzlement—this dark money scheme which pays politicians from the enormous fees charged by STRS’s alternative Wall Street managers is the elephant in the room. It is why they feared QED, because it represented a change to index funds away from alternatives.

Trina Prufer to STRS board 05/15/2025: In its current state, STRS will never provide an adequate benefit commensurate with what is contributed. Without a fair adjustment for inflation and a strong legal framework protecting teacher benefits, STRS will remain a source of injustice, exploitation and misery.

From Trina Prufer

May 16, 2025

Robin Rayfield calls out two high ranking members of the STRS management team for bad decisions and advice to the STRS board, including their unprofessional and unethical actions that stirred up a hornet's nest by authoring an 'anonymous letter'

Robin Rayfield's remarks to the STRS board

May 15, 2025

Bob Buerkle to STRS board 5.15.2025: What's there to worry about besides necessities like food, shelter, gasoline, insurance, medications and taxes?

From Bob Buerkle

May 15, 2025

Karen Loeffler outlines major concerns in her speech to STRS board May 15, 2025

From Karen Loeffler

May 15, 2025

Pension Warriors by Edward Siedle

Ohio Teachers Pension Ordered To Release Investment Documents

Will Governor DeWine and his cronies comply with the Court's order, or continue to hide their shady investment schemes?

If the pension complies with the Court order, the public will finally be able to see any ugly secrets STRS has been fighting so hard to keep.

On May 6th, the Court of Appeals of Ohio (Tenth Appellate District) handed us a decisive victory in our long… long… longstanding battle for public records from the highly-secretive State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio.

Since early 2021, we have asked the $96 billion public pension to disclose to the public all contracts, including any private placement memoranda, offering documents and subscription agreements, between STRS and its investment managers. And for the last 4 years, the pension has fought to keep its shady investment dealings secret.

Ohio public record laws are suppose to ensure transparency regarding public monies. If the pension complies with the Court order, the public will finally be able to see any ugly secrets STRS has been fighting so hard to keep.

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Better still, yesterday, the Court issued a writ of mandamus directing STRS to hand over the heretofore Top Secret, toxic documents. The Court adopted the magistrate’s prior decision—also in our favor—in its entirety and rejected STRS objections to that magistrate’s decision. So, all the state pension money that has been spent fighting disclosure to pension stakeholders, including participants and taxpayers, has been wasted.

When asked yesterday whether STRS will comply with the Court’s order or appeal, counsel for the beleaguered pension indicated it had not yet determined whether to continue the fight. STRS has 30 days to decide whether to appeal to the Supreme Court of Ohio.

If there’s nothing to hide, disclosure should always have been the appropriate response to concerned stakeholders. But, as participants and taxpayers have witnessed time and again, there’s nothing straightforward about STRS.

Go HERE to read this article and the court documents and to subscribe to Pension Warriors.

My letter to the ORSC

May 10,2025

Subject: Hostile takeover?

To the members of the Ohio Retirement Study Council: the teachers of Ohio are extremely concerned that you are seriously considering taking over the control of the hard-earned money they have been putting into their pension system, STRS, for many years.

It is THEIR money, and should remain under THEIR control. How can you not see this as reasonable, especially since the teachers have already been fleeced over the years because of political actions that are only NOW coming to light?

Could it be because politicians have been benefiting from this largesse and see the TEACHERS' money as their own? It appears they have been stealing it for decades, to the point where active teachers (and their respective schools) must now pay more into the system than they will ever get out of it, and retirees are suffering every day from the 30% loss of their buying power during this highly inflationary era, since their promised-in-writing COLA was taken away from them!

What do you think this does to our economy? Try living on a retiree's pension for a week. I guarantee you will NOT like it. Try teaching in a public school for a week (on a meager teacher's salary). Maybe you will have a little more respect for what Ohio's teachers have had to live with. And yet you want to take over their pension system and control THEIR hard-earned money?

Ever hear of Isaac Newton's Third Law of Motion? It simply states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So, if object A acts a force upon object B, then object B will exert an opposite yet equal force upon object A.

I predict that there is a very good chance that Newton's Third Law of Motion may require a revision if you (object A) are successful in taking over control of the teachers' money (object B), because there are many thousands of teachers whose reaction to your action will be far greater than what Newton had in mind. I hope you are prepared.

On the other hand, a kind action on your part (restoring the retirees' COLA and approving a source of money that would bring the active teachers' contribution back down to what it should be, and also restore their 30 year retirement so they won't have to suffer in today's unspeakably appalling teaching environment any longer than necessary) will bring a very kind reaction your way. I suggest you back down NOW on any thoughts about taking over control of the teachers' pension money. I just fear the reaction won't be pretty otherwise. The choice is yours.

Katherine B. Bracy

Retired teacher, Columbus City Schools

(Address)

Columbus, OH 432xx