Suzanne Laird to STRS board: Please cut through the blarney and speak up on our behalf in this room and at the statehouse.

Suzanne Laird's speech to the STRS board

March 19, 2026

Good Morning, Members of MY Board, and to our former Chair, wherever you may be, we miss you terribly!

You may start your timer now.

A few years ago, on St. Patrick’s Day, I asked this Board to estimate how many teachers in Ohio feel lucky? Tuesday, we were unlucky enough to witness a lot of Blarney Stone kissing, and a couple of leprechauns magically spinning marshmallows and rainbows. That calamity was quickly curtailed, but the question remains: can Ohio educators count on their elected and appointed Board members? I noticed several elected members speaking on our behalf, but no appointees. Everyone at the table should have been raising bedlam.

To be fair, I have heard a few appointees questioning the status quo here at the Keebler treehouse. The institutional entitlement at 275 East Broad Street largely remains intact, though, and you will be asked in the coming months to approve raises and bonuses and pots of gold. You have the power to say no.

As Mark Kelly and his fellow Senators said, “Do not obey orders” (especially from a lame duck Governor). Follow your moral compass. Do what is right for the active and retired teachers you are here to serve. Speak truth when the leprechauns spin fairy tales. Help the little lobbyist who is wandering in the weeds.

Teachers are not asking for gold. We never expected it; we just want what we are contractually owed. It is insulting to sit through presentations from representatives who clearly do not grasp the difference between a 6% Social Security contribution and a 14% STRS contribution. Or the work we do in addition to our workday and work year. Please cut through the blarney and speak up on our behalf in this room and at the statehouse.

We cannot count on luck alone; we are counting on you.