A Bombshell Explanation of the Situation at STRS by Chris Tobe
I. Introduction
Ohio educators and retirees have been betrayed not only by their pension system but also by much of their state’s press corps. While the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) funnels hundreds of millions annually into secret no-bid private equity contracts, the Ohio media—with rare exceptions—has amplified a manufactured scandal around “QED,” a firm with no assets, no SEC registration, and no role in managing STRS money.
Instead of asking why billions in opaque contracts remain hidden, much of Ohio’s press corps acted as enablers for Attorney General Dave Yost and Governor Mike DeWine, echoing their narrative and distracting from the real corruption.
II. The QED Distraction
QED was a concept firm, never SEC-registered, with $0 in assets and $0 in fees from STRS. Yet Yost’s office pushed QED into headlines as if it represented a major scandal. Media outlets latched on, running story after story about a phantom firm while ignoring the forensic audit’s findings that STRS pays nearly $1 billion per year in opaque fees through secret contracts with private equity managers.
This strategy—spotlighting a harmless decoy while burying the billion-dollar issue—is straight out of the FirstEnergy HB 6 playbook: focus public attention on a side-show while dark money flows in the shadows.
III. The Toledo Blade: A Lone Voice for Transparency
Amid this landscape, the Toledo Blade stood out. Its editorials and reporting consistently called for:
• Full transparency of STRS private equity contracts.• An end to excessive bonuses for staff tied to opaque performance benchmarks.• Alignment with teachers’ interests, not Wall Street’s.
The Blade connected STRS to Ohio’s broader pay-to-play culture, warning that without transparency, the system was vulnerable to the same type of scandal that exploded with FirstEnergy. Their editorials declared plainly: teachers want indexing, transparency, and no bonuses—and that is what the board should deliver.
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IV. Columbus Dispatch & Cincinnati Enquirer: A Different Agenda
Contrast this with the Columbus Dispatch and Cincinnati Enquirer, both owned by Gannett, which itself is controlled by Apollo Global Management—one of the largest private equity managers in the world and a major STRS contractor.
Instead of scrutinizing the hidden fees or Apollo’s role, the Dispatch and Enquirer often:
• Echoed Yost’s QED talking points, portraying the phantom firm as the scandal.• Downplayed or ignored the forensic audit, which documented real abuses.• Dismissed reform trustees and teacher groups as disruptive or politically motivated, rather than whistleblowers.
It is no coincidence: media outlets owned by private equity have a structural incentive to protect private equity’s reputation and suppress stories that could threaten their fee streams.
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V. Have Ohio Media Learned Nothing from FirstEnergy?
The FirstEnergy HB 6 scandal should have been the media’s wake-up call. For years, Ohio outlets treated HB 6 as just another political fight, underestimating the depth of corruption. It took federal prosecutors to expose that dark-money entities had funneled tens of millions to secure favorable legislation.
Now history repeats itself:
• Dark money + opaque contracts + complicit officials.• A press corps (outside Toledo) unwilling to follow the money.• Ownership structures that align major newspapers with the very private equity firms extracting fees from STRS.
The question is not whether STRS corruption is real—it is whether Ohio’s media will expose it, or repeat the mistakes of HB 6 by shielding political and financial power until federal indictments force their hand.
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VI. ConclusionOhio teachers deserve better than a pension system riddled with conflicts and a press corps that enables misdirection. The Toledo Blade has set the example, insisting on transparency and reform. The rest of Ohio’s media must decide whether they stand with educators and retirees, or with politicians and private equity firms.
Until then, the “QED scandal” will be remembered not as a revelation, but as a cover-up—engineered by officials and amplified by a complicit press—to protect the real scandal hiding in plain sight.
- Toledo Blade – Only paper to frame STRS as a transparency and fiduciary crisis, consistently supporting teachers. Editorials directly linked STRS secrecy to potential corruption and called for reform.
- Gannett Papers (Dispatch & Enquirer) – Amplified the QED distraction while burying the story of $900m+ in hidden fees. Their ownership by Apollo Global Management (a major STRS contractor) creates an unavoidable structural conflict of interest.
- Other Ohio Papers – Often echo official statements and lack resources for deep financial investigations, leading to coverage that reinforces the AG/Governor narrative rather than challenging it.
Lessons from FirstEnergy HB 6
- Just as most Ohio media failed to follow the money during the FirstEnergy scandal—until federal prosecutors forced the issue—so too with STRS.
- The same dark-money channels and conflicted law firms are at play, but the press (outside Toledo) is not connecting the dots.
- Ownership conflicts (Apollo → Gannett) raise questions about editorial independence when covering private equity’s role in STRS.
View article here.
posted by Kathie Bracy at 10:02 PM
