Bob Buerkle to STRS board August 18, 2026: How many of our retirees must die before the Ohio Attorney General and the Legislature will let the STRS Board perform their Fiduciary duties to deliver the annual COLAS that our retirees were promised at retirement and codified in ORC 3307.67? Is the number 70,000, 80,000 or maybe it is all current retirees?

 

Suzanne Laird to STRS board: A challenge to STRS employees to put their raises and their bonuses to compassionate use

Suzanne Laird's speech to STRS board

August 18, 2026

Good Afternoon, Members of MY Board:

Well, we saw quite a show last week at the ORSC meeting. I will reserve my comments regarding the Heritage Foundation journal article for another time, once the Math starts “Mathing.”

You may start your timer now.

Let’s set aside the manufactured outrage on that, and instead, focus on the comparison brief of the five pension systems in the state of Ohio: the one which stated that STRS retirees have the lowest purchasing power, without a dependable COLA, and that our purchasing power has degraded more than all others. Where was the outrage when it was revealed that our assumed future COLA rate is zero?!

As my 10 year old sign says: Do the Math: no 3% COLAs….. no bonuses. No matter how many times we drag ourselves and our tattered signs down here, we know you will still award the ridiculous raises and bonuses.

At the March meeting, one of the highest paid STRS employees approached me and said he’d done some investigating. Had I taught in the school district from which he graduated? We determined yes, while I had not taught him, I taught some of his siblings. I’d like to remind this employee, as well as all the overly-well compensated employees here, what our Worthington City Schools treasurer did, once.

This school treasurer won an award for having prudently managed the taxpayer’s money. The award came with a monetary bonus. Instead of pocketing that bonus, he anonymously donated it to the lowest-paid employee of the district.

Now, if you have attended any of the town hall meetings, you’ve heard that STRS is still paying benefits to some teachers over the age of one hundred years. No mention is ever made of their final average salary.

I challenge any of you in this building to donate this year’s raise to a one hundred (or more) year old retiree. How about one tenth of your bonus? Or how about your entire TWO hundred fifty thousand dollar bonus?

Who is really worthy of that amount? You, or a hundred year old teacher you purportedly work for?

Cathy Steinhauser to STRS board: "Shared sacrifice in this scenario should be applied…that’s called being ethical and it’s also legal. STRS reminds me of this line, “Money for me but not for thee.”…absolutely disgraceful!"

Cathy Steinhauser’s Public Participation speech August 18, 2026

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

Sorry to have disappointed you the last 3 board mtgs. (insert sarcasm here) by not attending, but when crisis occurs in families, you pay attention to what matters in life at that moment.  But I’m back and lucky for you I’m ready to dive head first into the ridiculous and absurd antics of STRS.

I listened to yesterday’s Zoom mtg., as well as the past 3 mtgs. I missed, and was amazed once again at the amount of self-serving entitlement within this pension.  This institution seems to feel that hired workers here deserve more than the teachers who through their blood, sweat and tears worked for 30-35+ yrs. in a classroom and are the entity that actually pay your salaries. You feel more deserving of up to 6 figure bonuses in past yrs. while teachers have had to wait for crumbs to be dropped by way of a COLA a handful of times in 13 yrs. It reminds me of Oliver Twist in “Oliver!” when he asks “Please Sir, I want some more.”

Teachers shouldn’t have to beg their own pension to restore a given right. We’ve had to tighten our belts to the point that there are no more holes left in our belts to notch while your belt seems to loosen more as the years go by.  Shared sacrifice in this scenario should be applied…that’s called being ethical and it’s also legal. STRS reminds me of this line, “Money for me but not for thee.”…absolutely disgraceful! 

You talked about board members who ask for information which may or may not need an outside person for clarity… i.e. pay someone to find that information one way or another.  Yet you have a budget that keeps increasing every year by millions!

Even the ORSC recommended you rein in your spending! You borderline-belittled a member of this board who wants to save time and asks for a listing of staff members and their specialty areas so that they can contact them directly instead of emailing several then waiting to see what information is offered.

Many pensioners are tired of how you throw around the word FIDUCIARY in a manner that neither begins to abide by what it actually means. I have spent countless speeches the past 5 years explaining what this word means and you still insist that it applies to the staff at STRS first. Nothing says frustration like saying the same things over and over again and you’re ignored.

Let’s try this again since it’s been a while:

FIDUCIARY: “A person who acts on behalf of another person or persons, putting their client’s interests ahead of their own, with a duty to preserve good faith and trust. Being a fiduciary requires being bound both LEGALLY AND ETHICALLY to act in others' best interests”.

NO 2% or 3% COLA, NO BONUSES!

Robin Beebe to STRS board: "According to the current Executive Director, "Our books are open. When you're running a state pension plan, your books are always open. We have nothing to hide." Well, two sets of books, per the Mendenhall report, seem to refute that. It is unethical at best, and at worst? You be the judge. "Something is rotten in Denmark...."

Robin Beebe's comments to STRS board

August 18, 2026

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 17 years. Denied my full 3% COLA's. Denied approximately $136,000+ and counting.

     Well, it's August - PBI/Bonus Month. I would be remiss not to mention the Mendenhall & Sutter "Retirement At Risk" report. Basically, STRS has had two sets of books, one of which overstated the investment returns by $9 Billion over 2 decades resulting in the inflated Bonus/PBI SCHEME. You can try to put all the spin on this report you want. But this report is out there. It will not go away. The PBI's should be halted until this all gets rectified. A GIPS  verification based on "STRS SUPPLIED DATA" is not an audit. It is not an audit by a CPA. And there is no Fiduciary Duty to pay bonuses to Investment Staff.

     According to the current Executive Director, "Our books are open. When you're running a state pension plan, your books are always open. We have nothing to hide." Well, two sets of books, per the Mendenhall report, seem to refute that. It is unethical at best, and at worst? You be the judge. "Something is rotten in Denmark...."
     So...you've all heard the expression, "It's Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature". (Put on flower crown.) Well, it's not nice to FOOL active and retired Ohio teachers!!!
     So, here is an idea. And, no fooling, I am not an Investment Blue Suit. But here is one possible way forward. I get a publication called Bottom Line Personal which is a $39/year subscription. From the July 2026 issue, I want to share just a few Exchange Traded Fund suggestions. These are diversified and have minimal fees and a very lucrative and profitable track record. #1: Tech Stock ETF - Invesco QQQM with a 0.15% expense ratio and a five year performance of 17.82%.  #2: S&P 500 ETF SPDR Portfolio (SPYM) passively tracks performance of 500 of the largest US companies with an annual expense ratio of 0.02% and performance of 15.76%.  #3: US Large Cap ETF called Fundstrat Granny Shots (GRNY) with a 0.75% expense ratio and one year performance of 31.3%. With ETF's you won't need an Investment Staff of 110+. You won't need to award millions and millions of PBI dollars. 
     So, I repeat, "It isn't nice to Fool active and retired teachers. I wish there was a way forward for honest and good things to happen. Hmmm... if I only had a magic wand to make wishes come true.... (Wave and sound wand.)