NOTE: To find the most current posts, please scroll down to the two big red arrows. You can't miss them.

STRS Ohio Watchdogs: a public Facebook group you can join

STRS OHIO WATCHDOGS

by Cindy Murphy

STRS Ohio Watchdogs monitor the management and investment practices of the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio.

We advocate for prudent and transparent investments, the restoration of the COLA for retired teachers, and the rollback of additional years of service required for active teachers.

This site will provide you with information about the work that is being done by Ohio's active and retired teachers to preserve our retirement benefits. Check back often for updates.

Join our conversation on Facebook. You don't have to be a member of STRS Ohio to join. Everyone who is interested in learning more about the management and investment practices of STRS Ohio is welcome.

Use this link to join our pack on Facebook:.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ohiostrswatchdogs 

Have you joined the Ohio STRS Member Only Forum on Facebook?

If you are a member of STRS Ohio and have a Facebook account, you are eligible to join thousands of others who make up the Ohio STRS Member Only Forum. This is a closed group of retirees and actives who are advocating for the return of our COLA, which, as you no doubt know, your STRS Board SUSPENDED on April 20, 2017. Two of our members, Bob Buerkle and Dean Dennis, filed a class action lawsuit against STRS on May 23, 2019 suing for the reinstatement of our COLA. The text of the lawsuit can be found on this blog. You can go here to join the Forum and sign the petition, already signed by more than 20,000 people, for the return of our COLA: Ohio STRS Member Only Forum

Click image to enlarge

Angel of Grief

Garrison Keillor

Items of interest in the Archives: The 2013 STRS Board Election

Many people have been very interested in reading about the irregularities of the 2013 STRS board election. There are many posts related to this topic, beginning the first week of April 2013, after the ballots were mailed to retirees from STRS. You can find them by going to the Archives for this blog, over in the right sidebar, and clicking on dates beginning with April 7, 2013. Dennis Leone announced his candidacy for a retired seat in November, 2012. There is a lot of information about him in the Archives, beginning with November 12, 2012 posts. If you want to read only the best stuff about that infamous election of 2013, go over to the sidebar on the right of where you are now, which is the archives of previous articles on this blog. Scroll down to April 2013. That's where the "interesting" articles begin. You will see many, clear up to the middle of May 2013.5/28/13

.....so what REALLY happened in 2003 that touched off a firestorm at STRS that is still smoldering today? Read it here, from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. (Hint: It ain't over yet!)

More here (Akron Beacon Journal, 2003)

A MUST READ: Dennis Leone Reform Initiatives as an STRS Board Member  Between 2005 and 2009

To find current, day-to-day posts -- pull your scroll bar down a ways, just below the big red arrows (you can't miss them). Thanks.

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Find your state representative and senator here.

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/

I know, it's weird.........

Many posts that appear "at the top" for a while are eventually moved down, where they can be found under their original posting dates. Also, if you are confused by the postdating, this is done to keep these posts up there; otherwise, they drift down when new posts are added. It's a "blog thing" which I have no other way to control. KB

Handy links: Contacts, information and more (short version)
This is an abbreviated version of the original 'Handy links' post. Click here to view a more complete list. (Some of it is old.)

STRS Board.....STRS website

Board calendar

E-mail contacts at STRS (old, but some may still work)

Map/directions to STRS, 275 E. Broad St. Columbus, OH 43215

STRS "Membership Survey" (spoof)
State legislators.......State of Ohio website

Latest OEA salaries (2011) over 100K; USDL report

Rich DeColibus' PowerPoint presentation STRS' PBI Program; Does it work?: click December 21, 2008 (blog Archive) and scroll down to December 23 posts.

Charts: PBI (bonus) payments

Popular links; click, then scroll down: charts, graphs, investment staff, lists, spreadsheets

$TR$ Inve$tment $taff $$$ (old)

SPECIAL (must read):

Dennis Leone's INVESTIGATIVE REPORT on STRS: May 16, 2003...Who is Dennis Leone?........(PDF version)...More on Dennis Leone .......(PDF version)

Dennis Leone: "Catcher of Thieves"

Dennis Leone's STRS Report to ORTA, March 2007

Dennis Leone's Testimony at the Statehouse 9/5/12
The Plain Dealer article that started it all

Dennis Leone: Factors Driving STRS 30-Year Planning and Revenue Assumptions (with charts)

Historic PBI vote, January 16, 2009

Charts: PBI (bonus) payments

CURRENT POSTS BELOW

Trina Prufer: Thoughts after the June 2025 STRS board meeting

From Trina Prufer

June 15, 2025

A Thought Experiment 

I was at the meeting last week when the board voted to continue the bonus program. Like all of us on this site, I was frustrated, saddened and unhappy with this outcome. The disappointment in the room was palpable. Never-the-less, I understand why the vote turned out this way and applaud how our reform board members handled the situation. Essentially, this is a David and Goliath conflict for control of billions of dollars with the financial lives of 500K educators at risk. They took the path that allows us to fight on for another day.

So let’s do a thought experiment by envisioning a hypothetical do over. What would have happened if our reform board members had voted to end the bonus program? The backlash against teachers would have been swift, extreme and perhaps permanently crippled our ability to have any voice in how STRS is run. The State holds all the cards. Because STRS is governed by statutes that can be changed by the legislature, there are no laws protecting the defined-benefit and in the governance of STRS.

The implied threats against reform board members hovered like an imaginary guillotine set up in the center of the room. The risk was that reform board members would be sued by the AG‘s office on the trumped up charge of dereliction of fiduciary duty and the ORSC would recommend that educators be removed from the board on the grounds of preventing a “hostile takeover”. We have already seen this movie.

STRS operates like no other public retirement system in the nation. Its funding model is designed to financially harm members as the state’s contribution rates will never fully fund the benefit. IMO, Ohio’s pension laws are unconstitutional as they allow for the unlawful seizure of members’ assets. Our issues are massive and reform board members are doing the very best they can under extraordinary conditions. They deserve our support and understanding of the constraints they work under. They fight for us every single day. Since they have been in the majority, we have attained small but significant gains. This will be a very, very long fight.

Reform at STRS: Rudy Fichtenbaum, STRS Board Chair, answers questions many have had since the June 2025 board meeting

Reform at STRS

By

Rudy Fichtenbaum 

In the aftermath of the Board vote on PBI at the June meeting, there have been many questions raised as to why I supported PBI, having previously voting against them. The purpose of this memo is to explain why I voted in a way that I thought was in the best long-term interest of our members.

What are the key issues facing STRS? The first issue is restoring an ongoing COLA that will cover all active members when they retire and cover current retirees who have seen the value of their pensions decline roughly 30% since 2017. The second major issue is reducing the number of years active teachers need to get an unreduced retirement. All other issues pale in comparison to these two issues. If reformers on the Board had a magic wand and waved it to just solve these two problems and nothing else, I would venture to say that discussion in the MOF would be entirely different.

Let me also remind everyone that since electing reformers to the Board we have had a 3% COLA, a 1% COLA, a supplemental payment and a 1.5% COLA. Just to be clear this means that current retirees have had some form of inflation protection in each of the last 4 fiscal years (FY 23, FY 24, FY25, FY26) which run from July 1 - June 30 each year. In addition, we have reduced the number of years for full retirement from 35 to 32 temporarily with the intention of making that permanent in the next five years. Is it enough? No! But given the constraints we face it is the best we can do. What else has changed? We have a new Executive Director, a new Chief Financial Officer, and soon will have a new Chief Investment Officer.

Discussion in the MOF focuses primarily on expenses of one sort or another. Salaries for STRS staff, artwork in the building, the cafeteria, the gym, the cost of watering plants etc. The item that receives the most attention is PBI (aka bonuses).

Every move the Board makes we have advisors and lawyers tell us that in making this decision or that decision we might be violating our fiduciary duty. In response, the Board now has its own fiduciary attorney who has helped guide us, so that as we bring change to STRS we have assurances that we are acting lawfully. We have had top elected officials in the State insert themselves into the ED search at the 11th hour, while at the same time they held hearings on whether to reduce the number of elected members on the Board so we would be a minority.

The kind of changes we can get with seven votes are telling members the truth that right now active members who contribute 14% of each check to STRS are earning benefits each year that are equivalent to about 10.4% of their salary. That is the worst deal in the country among large public pensions. We can stop the gaslighting and the propaganda that in the past has been a staple at STRS for many years. We can publish all our investment fees, which now happens once a year. We can report net returns and only use net returns in evaluating performance. We can increase transparency. We can improve the benchmarks we use to evaluate performance. These are all changes that have happened because of the efforts of reformers.

Changing Board policy, that pays PBI to investors, is extraordinarily difficult. Can we eliminate the program? According to our fiduciary attorney, if we eliminated the program, we would have to replace it with an alternative or we would breach our fiduciary duty.

Setting aside the legal issues board members would face by eliminating PBI, our members should be aware that no amount of expense cutting will make a material difference when it comes to benefit restoration. In other words, even with 7 votes, we would not be able to pass a motion to instantly restore 30 years for active members and give both active and retired members a 3% ongoing COLA.

Why? Because under Ohio law restoring benefits that were taken away as part of “pension reform”, a euphemism for pension cuts, requires that STRS’s actuary certify that changes to the pension will not “impair the fiscal integrity of the system.” But what about all the unnecessary expenses! Surely if we eliminated those expenses, we could make significant changes. Right?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. The only way that STRS will be able to restore benefits is to make more money and take less risk. This has been a constant refrain that I have repeated on numerous occasions since I have been on the Board.

To understand why, let's look at a basic equation that displays the flows of money that come in to and are paid out of a pension each year. That equation is:

C+ I = B + E.

C stands for contributions, both employee and employer contributions. I is commonly called interest, but it really stands for all investment income. B is benefits. E stands for expenses. Now in reality the equality does not have to hold. If C + I < B + E, the pension takes in less than it pays out; similarly, if C + I > B + E, the fund takes in more than it pays out. Since STRS has a significant unfunded liability, it is important that it take in more money than it pays out over time to reduce the unfunded liability.

Expenses at STRS receive a lot of attention in the MOF. As a Trustee, I agree that STRS should do everything it can to reduce unnecessary expenses. However, reducing expenses alone will not restore benefits.

To see why, let’s look at the relative magnitude of C, I, B and E. I am going to use numbers for the defined benefit plan (DB) only; these numbers apply to fiscal year 2023, which ended last June 30.

(C) Contributions for the DB plan in 2023 were approximately $3.6 billion: $1.7 billion in member contributions, $1.8 billion in employer contributions, plus $0.1 billion coming from transfers from the defined contribution (DC) program and other retirement systems.

(I) Investment Income was $7.0 billion. This is gross investment income; see (E) below for expenses associated with this investment income.

(B) Benefit payments, including refunds to members who withdrew their money, were $7.5 billion.

(E) Expenses. Investment expenses were $283 million ($41 million in internal investment expenses plus $242 million in external investment expenses), and administrative expenses were approximately $73.5 million. So, altogether E was $356.5 million, which for simplicity I will round to $400 million, i.e., $0.4 billion.

Here is what our equation C + I = B + E looks like with the four numbers above plugged in. All four numbers are in billions of dollars.

$3.6 + $7.0 = $7.5 +$ 0.4 

which by arithmetic reduces to

$10.6 = $7.9

The truth of course is that $10.6 is not equal to but much greater than $7.9. That is, in 2023, the incoming money side of our equation – C+I – was much bigger than the outgoing money side of our equation – B+E. What happened to all that money? Most of it went toward reducing the pension’s unfunded liability. In 2022 the inequality was reversed; that is, C+I was much less than B+E; in fact, in 2022 the DB plan spent $8.5 billion more than it took in contributions and investment income.

Here is a key point to understand. In a typical year, the DB plan will pay out approximately $7.9 billion but will take in only $3.6 billion in contributions; so, just to break even, it needs to earn $4.3 billion in investment income. In round numbers the pension needs to earn a minimum of 5.1% on investments just to break even, since it has approximately $83.7 billion in assets. (These numbers are just for the DB plan in 2023).

Expenses are approximately $400 million ($0.4 billion). But even if expenses were zero, the pension would still need to earn $3.9 billion every year just to break even, i.e., keep the unfunded liability from increasing. Another way to put expenses into perspective is that even if all the $400 million in expenses were eliminated, $400 million is not enough to provide even a

1% one-time COLA! And obviously we cannot run a $96 billion pension system and eliminate all expenses.

Every year that STRS does not break even or better, it must sell assets to meet its obligations, and that lowers the level of assets available to pay benefits and earn investment income. When the pension had assets of $90 billion and it would have needed to earn $3.9 billion even if expenses had been zero, which translates to a 4.3% return on investments. With $83.7 billion in assets, it would need to earn 4.7% (again assuming zero expenses). Every time the level of assets goes down, it increases the rate of return needed just to break even. This is known as volatility drag.

Going back to our example from 2023 – in which the plan had $83.7 billion in assets, took in $3.6 billion in contributions, paid out $7.5 billion in benefits, and had $0.4 billion in expenses – it needed 5.1% in investment earnings to break even. But suppose a miracle occurred, and STRS could somehow have cut expenses in half; that would have reduced expenses from $0.4 billion to $0.2 billion, cutting the total outflows (B+E) to from $7.9 billion to $7.7 billion. With current expenses, we would still need to have earned 4.9% to break even!

Should we reduce unnecessary expenses? Yes! Where are the biggest expenses? About 79% of STRS’s expenses are investment expenses. But even if we were to reduce unnecessary expenses to zero, would we have enough money to restore 30 years active members and pay an ongoing 3% COLA for active and retiree members? The answer is clearly no!

Relative to many large pensions, STRS has a moderately high funding ratio. But it also has one of the largest cash outflows relative to the size of its assets. This along with fixed rate employer contributions, which are among the lowest in the country in non-Social Security states, poses a real threat to STRS. In almost all other states, when investment earnings are down there is a mechanism to increase employer or state contributions, which greatly reduces the chance that the pension could find itself in a circumstance where there is a spend down from which the pension cannot recover.

Therefore, the focus of members needs to be on building a mass movement to support increased employer contributions, which should be funded by increased appropriations for school districts or by a separate appropriation from the state. Ultimately this means voting and working to elect state officials who care about public education and understand that teacher’s working conditions are student’s learning conditions. Ultimately, to have a healthy pension, we need to replace fixed rate employer contributions with variable rate contributions making us comparable to almost every public pension in the U.S.

There is an old joke about a guy who is looking for his lost keys under a streetlight. Another person walks up to him and asks, “What are you doing?” The guy replies, “I am looking for my keys.” So, then the person asks, “you lost them right about here, eh?” The guy replies, “No, I lost them across the street.” And the person asks, “So why are you looking for your keys over here?” The guy replies, “Because this is where the light is.” If we want to restore benefits, we need to start looking where we can find billions of dollars and focus less on saving a few million dollars that we can find under a streetlight!

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

Robin Beebe to STRS board: I have been very busy today looking for elephants in this room. Perhaps we all must be vigilant and "look out" for something else???? Has anyone seen any SNAKES IN THE GRASS???

Robin Beebe's remarks to STRS board

June 12, 2025

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. KISS. IT. GOODBYE.

I have been hearing much talk of elephants in the room. In some cultures, elephants signify strength, wisdom, good luck and protection. Elephants are revered for their gentle nature, intelligence, using their strength for REMOVING OBSTACLES and NEGATIVE FORCES and bringing PROSPERITY. Elephants live long lives and have GREAT MEMORIES (like teachers that I know). What can we learn from any elephants in this STRS Boardroom?

Aha....(pull out small, grey elephant statue). Here is the elephant known as the "It's Your Fault" Elephant.  Teachers are blamed for not contributing enough. IT'S YOUR FAULT. Teachers are blamed for living too long. IT'S YOUR FAULT. Really????? What happened to the PREFUNDED Contribution Rates for the normal cost of the benefit including the guaranteed 3% COLA???? Where has all this PREFUNDED money gone??? Has this been diverted and applied to the unfunded liability???  Or somewhere else??? An elephant never forgets. Neither do we teachers!!!

Aha....(pull out small, pink, fluffy elephant). Here is the "Make It Go Away" Elephant. It is time to rescind the 2021 ORC Resolution and take away the power of the Executive Director to override the STRS Board's decisions. Please, will just one Board member use your strength and power and make a motion on this? Call for a vote to rescind it? Break this shackle and release your true Board power for self determination.

Aha...(pull out medium wooden elephant silhouette). Here is the "Ohio Audit $90 Billion Elephant". Faber's long overdue and very tardy audit suggested that had STRS invested in diversified index funds rather than hedge funds and alts, our pension fund would be worth an approximate $90 Billion more. That is Billion with a "B". Elephants signify wisdom and bring prosperity.

Aha...(pull out big stuffed grey elephant). Here is the Biggest Bull(y) Elephant in the room of ALL. It is the potential PARADIGM SHIFT of EPIC proportions that may be about to take place. This is the looming threat of the ORSC legislators to remove the elected active and retired STRS teacher Board Members and replace them with their appointed people. It will TOTALLY take away our teachers' power and voices. This PARADIGM SHIFT simply must not happen. To quote Dr. Martin Luther King, "The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." I just have to believe this is true.....

Lastly, I have been very busy today looking for elephants in this room. Perhaps we all must be vigilant and "look out" for something else???? Has anyone seen any SNAKES IN THE GRASS??? ( Hold up 3 foot long stuffed toy snake).

Susan Brannan to STRS board: The Fiduciary responsibility of the 11 on this Board is to manage the STRS pile of CATNIP worth $95 Billion for Actives & Retirees.

Susan Brannan's speech to STRS board

June 12, 2025

Hello,

My name is Susan Brannan. I retired in 1995 with 30 years experience as a public school classroom teacher.

Speakers during the Public Participation portion of Board Meetings have “beaten the following issues to death”: 14% Active contributions, COLA, years of service for retirement, types of investments, use of STRS facilities, & operational expenses. We Actives & Retirees truly appreciate the efforts of ALL Board members, both elected & appointed, whose expertise & experience work to solve problems in order to keep STRS solvent.

That having been said . . . All Board Members seem to be operating between a rock & a hard place. Elected Educators who have “skin in the game” are criticized for not providing change fast enough. The Appointed, who are licensed, experienced professionals must obey the laws, be mindful of their fiduciary role, & stay within certain political lanes. Harsh? I say this because an appointee can be removed during a 4 year term, encouraged to quit, or charged & taken to court.

I taught American History which included economic, social, & of course, political history . . . all history is political! As a teacher, I'm saying that when one of two major political parties controls all 3 branches of government . . .well, you fill it in. It makes no difference whether it is the Republican or Democratic Party.

After many years, it appeared that no changes to contribution rates, years of service for full retirement, reinstating a COLA, & reining in expenses, etc. were in the foreseeable future. The Membership decided to take constructive action. Candidates for elected board positions were vetted for financial experience, education, & willingness to learn.

Here at STRS, elected, so called “Reformers” now number 7 out of 11. This has alarmed some at ORSC. Too many elected? Perhaps more should be appointed.? Never mind that some appointees have sided with “Reformers”. Also, if board composition is so key to control, why has the seat which is appointed jointly by the Speaker of the House & President of the Senate been vacant for 6 months, only to be filled about 20 days ago?

Speaking TRUTH TO POWER! Who has & where is the POWER over the $95 Billion STRS Pension Fund? May I suggest that it is NOT in this room.

Especially since the passage of Citizens United in 2010, Pension Funds across the nation, have become CATNIP to investors, politicians, & others.

The Fiduciary responsibility of the 11 on this Board is to manage the STRS pile of CATNIP worth $95 Billion for Actives & Retirees.

Trina Prufer: "In the culture of STRS, the highest paid non-contributors actively work in secret against the contributors. Behind the scenes slanted information is fed to legislators, the media and politicians. The non-contributors prosper when the system puts contributors last."

By Trina Prufer

May 9, 2025

Tribalism 

One way of looking at how STRS operates is through the lens of tribalism. There are essentially two camps of workers who rely on STRS for their livelihood: 1) those who contributed to the system (members) and 2) those who did not. Strangely, in the world of STRS, those who did not are much better off than those who did. Let’s call them the “contributors“ and the “non-contributors”.

STRS uses a different set of rules and norms for the non-contributors. Their salaries, bonuses and working conditions are compared to “averages” in private and public corporations. We are told that in order to get the “best“ people, STRS must be competitive; if board members object, they are not being good fiduciaries, and can be personally sued.

What is the reference group used by STRS to determine if the contributors are being treated fairly? There isn’t any. STRS cares not one whit what happens to Ohio’s educators and spends almost no time looking at equity.

If STRS operated as a normal public retirement system, what would be its reference group (or groups) when looking at equity for the contributors?  It would be BOTH the 13 or so other public teacher retirement systems without social security, and the four other public retirement systems in Ohio. We know what the findings would be… STRS provides the worst benefit structure, and has the worst outcomes in regard to a diminishing replacement rate as compared to both reference groups. Although not perfect, the norm is to provide a tiered benefit structure, keeping in place the promises made to retirees at the time of retirement.

Where is the STRS Executive Director in all of this? He tells us where he stands at every town hall meeting.

What does this have to do with tribalism? In the culture of STRS, the highest paid non-contributors actively work in secret against the contributors. Behind the scenes slanted information is fed to legislators, the media and politicians. This is evidenced by the anonymous letter, the firing of Wade Steen, the court case against Wade and Rudy and the AG‘s office supporting the non-contributors. The non-contributors prosper when the system puts contributors last. This is a nasty game that affects every aspect of our lives.

What a messed up system!

Trina Kay Prufer is a retired Ohio teacher. She regularly attends STRS Ohio Retirement Board meetings and speaks during Public Participation. She is an All-Star Contributor to the Facebook group Ohio STRS Member Only Forum.

A timely commentary by Ohio's Teacher of the Year

I’m Ohio’s Teacher of the Year. Proposed state budget changes betray our students.

By Daneé Pinckney

June 4, 2025

Recently, I received a message from my son’s teacher, excitedly letting me know he passed his Math Ohio state test. When my son was diagnosed with a neurological disability, I worried about the ways he might struggle, not only physically and emotionally, but academically. I found peace in knowing that Ohio’s public schools would support him through protections provided by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

What I didn’t expect was the depth of care, commitment and expertise his public school teachers would bring. They see him. They celebrate his brilliance, advocate for his growth, and make sure I am part of a team.

This is why it is devastating to watch our state systematically strip resources from public education while funneling hundreds of millions of dollars more into private and charter schools that are not held to the same standards. This isn’t just a financing shift. It’s a shift in values.

Early in my career, I worked in charter schools, and while that experience shaped me as an educator, it also exposed me to harsh realities. I saw how poor accountability led to inefficiency and blatant disregard for students. These schools prioritized profit over people, with faceless management sending impersonal directives from beach homes in Florida.

I watched students be discarded for not fitting an image and dedicated educators penalized for speaking up. My experiences confirm these are not the schools that best serve Ohio’s children, yet our state continues to prioritize them over public schools that educate all students – no exceptions.

Our public schools don’t pick and choose. They don’t push out students who need more support. They don’t quietly ignore civil rights protections like IDEA. My child thrives today because of this commitment, but I worry—for how much longer?

Proposed education budget changes feign a preference for school choice, but reflect a deeper truth: Ohio is abandoning its responsibility to educate all children.

Underfunding public education puts supports like my son’s at risk. As an educator and a parent, I know what questions to ask and what rights to fight for, but many parents do not. Without the legal oversight and rules public schools must follow, too many students with disabilities may receive inadequate support, or be denied support, and their families may not even realize it. My child, and every child, deserves an education that meets their needs, not one that depends on whether a school chooses to serve them.

Voucher and charter schools are not bound by the same transparency, equity, or admissions requirements as public schools. They can, and do, exclude students of color, LGBTQ+ students, students in poverty and students with disabilities, further damaging how these students feel seen and valued in the world. Yet, they’re receiving hundreds of millions more in taxpayer dollars.

Meanwhile, public schools are expected to do more with less. Because Ohio refuses to fund public education fully, districts are forced to rely on local property taxes. When those levies fail, as they did recently in my own communities of Twinsburg and Stow-Munroe Falls, students pay the price. Teachers stretch their resources, families scramble for support, and achievement gaps widen, particularly for rural and urban districts already struggling.

I’m proud to be Ohio’s Teacher of the Year, but this title means little if I don’t speak up. My colleagues in my district, the educators so tenderly caring for my baby in his, and those across the state working every day to make public schools places of learning, belonging, and possibility for every child can’t do it alone, and shouldn’t have to.

Ohio’s children deserve better—all of them.

Colleen Marshall's special update on STRS; The Spectrum, 06/01/2025 regarding the state legislature's attempt to remove teachers' power to control their own pension system

See the video here; Colleen Marshall interviews Robin Rayfield and Dean Dennis in the opening footage:

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – This week on The Spectrum:

Lawmakers are looking to make changes to the board for the State Teachers Retirement System.

“Our consultants get rich, our investors get rich, our STRS management get rich,” CEO of the Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association Robin Rayfield said. “The only people who don’t get rich are the people who put the money in.”

Hear from retirees on why they say it’s nothing more than an attempt to strip away their power.

Bob Buerkle's message to Ohio legislators: Any legislative actions which would take away the authority of the rightfully and democratically elected Reform STRS Board Members will unify active and retired teachers as never before. It has taken more than a decade of creating social networks with over 60,000 members. That number will quickly double or triple if the legislature takes away our voting rights.

Ohio STRS Member Only Forum

Bob Buerkle

May 31, 2025

I write this today, expecting that there will be at least one or more legislators who will see my thoughts and consider what might happen if they try to pull any shenanigans with our STRS Board structure.

Any legislative actions which would take away the authority of the rightfully and democratically elected Reform STRS Board Members will unify active and retired teachers as never before. It has taken more than a decade of creating social networks with over 60,000 members. That number will quickly double or triple if the legislature takes away our voting rights.

Over the last five years, all seven of the previous non-reform Board Members have been swept from their positions. If legislators think we can be pushed around again they should re-think that idea, or risk being swept from office themselves.

They should also know that STRS retirees are already on a downward spiral towards poverty. You may ask, how can that be, given that the average STRS Retiree pension is around $3900 per month?

Well, just since 2020 our retirees have fallen 23% behind inflation. STRS has all retirees on a lifetime pension path worth only 50% or less than the original pension purchasing power our retirees had at retirement.

Two things must happen to avert this disaster. First, the losses we have already suffered must be restored to at least the level that the legislature restored retirees to in 1999, which was 85% of original pension purchasing power. Some of our current retirees are already now behind over 30%.

Second, proper funding and/or changes in investment policies must be undertaken. For over a decade, Callan Associates LLC. was the investment advisor for STRS. They were also the investment advisor for the Nevada Pension System, which employs only three people to run their investments, nearly all of which are index funds that cover each of the asset classes recommended by Callan. In an investment article in NCPERS, Callan stated that the Nevada System had outperformed all other public pension plans over the last 20-year period, while also having the lowest investment expenses.

Trina Prufer comments on Aaron Hood's version of a recent Town Hall in Cleveland Heights

How NOT to Run a Town Hall 

[As conducted by Aaron Hood, interim director of STRS]

By Trina Prufer

May 29, 2025

1. Assume your audience is simpleminded and naive, and that teachers are unaware that an STRS retirement benefit costs too much and delivers too little. 

2. Lose your temper.

3. Cut off all discussion that gets close to addressing issue #1. Redirect by talking too fast and changing the subject. Take up as much time as you can with PowerPoint pages that DO NOT ADDRESS stakeholders' concerns. 

5. Structure the town hall so questions from the audience will last only 30 minutes. Be defensive.

4. Heap accolades on YOUR staff, making it clear that they are YOUR people. As to the survival needs of 500K educators, they do not exist in your world, which is the modus operandi of STRS. 

5. Accept the unacceptable. Assume it is perfectly normal for a public pension system to NOT keep its promise of financial security to retirees. Ignore the fact that STRS provides the worst benefit as compared to the four others in Ohio. Ignore the State of Ohio’s betrayal to educators. Ignore the fact that Ohio’s educators have no guarantee whatsoever as to the “defined-benefit” they will eventually receive. 

A public pension system with a defined-benefit contribution rate, but no protections for the benefit received, is by definition a scam. A sham town hall cannot mitigate this simple truth.

I am asking this board to make an adjustment to the actuarially reduced benefit schedule for all those who retired in 2024. This would simply reflect the change from 34 years of service down to 33 years in a span of 5 months. I ask you to do this because it is the right thing to do for all 2024 retirees.

Lisa Barber's speech to STRS board

May 15, 2025

Good afternoon, I am here today to ask you to be equitable.

My name is Lisa Barber.  I retired from teaching in June 2024 with 32 years of service credit and a reduced benefit.  The required years of service at that time were 34. Just 5 months after my retirement, the board reduced the years of service for full benefits to 33. What new information did you have at that time that you did not have when I and many others retired?

Adding insult to injury, all retirees were given a December supplement IF they had been retired for a year or more. So, I did not receive a supplement.

Had the 33 years of service been in place when I retired, my pension (with the actuarial reduction) would be close to $500 more per month. I would not have delayed my retirement, however.

In the April 2025 update the board announced another decrease in years of service for an unreduced benefit. That was 9 months after I retired.  The new requirement is 32 years, then the years of service increase, then return back to 34 years beginning in 2032.  I am sure those still teaching find this arbitrary and inequitable. I certainly feel the two decreases in required service credit just months after my retirement were very unfair.

I am asking this board to make an adjustment to the actuarially reduced benefit schedule for all those who retired in 2024. This would simply reflect the change from 34 years of service down to 33 years in a span of 5 months. I ask you to do this because it is the right thing to do for all 2024 retirees.

Dan MacDonald's report on the May 14-16 STRS long, long board meeting

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

Dan MacDonald attended the May STRS Board meeting. The meeting was unique in that more time was spent in Executive Session [out of public sight].  

Wednesday the meeting was called to order about 8:30 a.m.  and went into Executive Session (1) for the rest of the day. Thursday the day started with an Executive Session (2) for the Disability Review Panel [This usually takes place on Wednesday and is always an Executive Session.] The Board meeting was called to order a little after 11 a.m. Minutes were approved, and the Board went into Executive Session (3) until noon. 

The Board returned and the Board Governance Committee met with a presentation by outside consultant GGA for all of nine minutes.  GGA told the Board that there were 22 areas that needed to be tackled from a 180 questionnaire that had been administered to Board and senior staff with a 69% response rate [I suppose I’d be happy if 69% of my former students handed in their homework on time, but to me the response should have been in the 90th to 100% percentile.  All Board members should have responded as well as the staff given the questionnaire.]

Public Participation occurred about 12:15 p.m.  Twelve people spoke, all retirees. [No specific names were shared but apparently two STRS staff lawyers were identified in the court filings regarding the 14-page whistleblower letter given to the governor and others about former Board member Steen and current Chair Fichtenbaum. Phrases such as unethical and disbarment were shared by more than one of the speakers.]

Back to Executive Session (4) with a lunch break. The session lasted to 3:06 pm. A presentation was made to honor Fred Williams who was retiring after 44 years of service at STRS. The Investment Committee then met for 45 minutes. April’s return was a positive 0.3% giving the fund return for the FY a positive 4.5% [Remember the Fiscal Year ends June 30 with a goal of a positive 7% to be on track.] Investment assets ended April about $95.8 billion, up since July 1, 2024, by $554 million.

The Statement of Fund Governance and Statement of Investment Objectives and Policy were presented along with the Semiannual Broker Evaluation and Associated Policies and outside consultant Callan remarks. The Chair then altered the agenda and had Routine Matters to approve April expenses and other routine matters. This took 4 minutes and when he called another Executive Session (5) which lasted an hour.

Upon return, the Benefits Department presented initial projected increases to 2026 premiums and the main drivers along with a motion to approve the Health Care Subsidy caused by last month’s vote to allow actives to retire at 32 years of service.

The meeting concluded with the Interim Executive Director's Report and Old Business/New Business and a recess to a continuation of the Board meeting Friday in Executive Session (6). I do not know how long the Executive Session lasted on Friday.  Through Zoom I know it commenced a little after 9 a.m. but I had to leave my home at 10:30 a.m. and the Board was still in Executive Session.  The next Board and committee meetings are slated for June 11, 12, 13, 2025.

[From what I overheard, the Governor and others told the Board not to select a new CEO at this meeting. Supposedly, Christina Elliott, Director of Benefits, removed her name for the position and there are an additional 2 candidates making the final cut. As to the reason for all these Executive Sessions, I haven’t a clue, nor was one given. Watching, some of the Executive Sessions caught even Board members by surprise.

There are 6 reasons for Executive Session: 

(1) To consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion or compensation of a public employee or official, or the investigation of charges or complaints against a public employee, official, licensee, or regulated individual, unless the employee, official, licensee, or regulated individual requests a public hearing by division (G)(1) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code.

(2) To consider the purchase of property (both real and personal, tangible or intangible), or to consider the sale of property (either real or personal) by competitive bid if disclosure of the information would give a competitive advantage to the other side by division (G)(2) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code.

(3) Conferences with the public body's attorney concerning pending or imminent court action by division (G)(3) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code. Court action is "pending" if a suit has been commenced; court action is "imminent" if it is on the point of happening or impending.

(4) Preparing for, conducting, or reviewing collective bargaining strategy by division (G)(4) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code.

(5) Matters required to be kept confidential by federal law, federal rules, or state statutes by division (G)(5) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code.

(6) Specialized details of security arrangements where disclosure of the information to be discussed in executive session might reveal information that could be used to commit, or avoid prosecution for, a violation of the law by division (G)(6) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code.

[Obviously, something behind the scenes is happening.  Remember that this is OUR PENSION and we should have more than say in its existence. Please read my Public Participation.  STRS Ohio has functioned fine since 1920, but legislative darkness now lurks.] 

Under the radar no more!

 

The STRS board majority now knows its in-house lawyers are actively and unethically working against their agenda. If it’s serious about implementing transparency and index investing, Ms. Wideman and Mr. Maxwell should be immediately terminated.

-- Toledo Blade 05/19/2025

Blade Editorial: STRS chaos internal

Editorial: STRS chaos internal

THE BLADE EDITORIAL BOARD

May 19, 2025 

Ohio lawmakers looking to push teachers off their own pension board are blaming the wrong people for the alleged dysfunction at the State Teachers Retirement System.

Claiming chaos at STRS, Republican legislators are researching other states’ retirement board composition for support to retake control by stacking the STRS board with appointees of the governor, treasurer, and General Assembly.

The most significant sign of dysfunction on the STRS board is the suit brought by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost against former member Wade Steen and current chairman Rudy Fichtenbaum claiming a violation of fiduciary duty for an investment they proposed in 2021.

AG Yost’s case was initiated by an anonymous letter in 2024 claiming Mr. Steen and Mr. Fichtenbaum had close personal ties to the proprietors of an investment firm to which they attempted to steer STRS funds.

It turns out, due to mandatory legal discovery, that the authors of the letter were STRS Chief Legal Counsel Stacey Wideman and her top deputy Mark Maxwell. Ms. Wideman and Mr. Maxwell had a professional ethical responsibility to bring this issue to authorities in 2021 when it occurred, provided they had a legitimate concern that board members Steen and Fichtenbaum were trying to steer STRS funds to a favored fund manager.

The STRS Legal Counsel-written anonymous letter was launched when elected board members gained majority status and had the power to implement their campaign promise of full transparency for the STRS investment portfolio and a shift in investment strategy to low-cost market index funds.

When the Pennsylvania teachers pension became fully transparent on investment management costs, it showed payments totaling over eight times more than Ohio reported on a bigger fund.

The STRS board majority, comprised of elected active and retired teachers, has compelling evidence Ohio is paying much more than reported and achieving results well behind what a lower cost market index would produce. It’s the appointed experts who want to protect the failing status quo and force Ohio taxpayers to increase their contributions to keep the pension solvent.

The STRS board majority now knows its in-house lawyers are actively and unethically working against their agenda. If it’s serious about implementing transparency and index investing, Ms. Wideman and Mr. Maxwell should be immediately terminated.

Regardless of any board action, the STRS lawyers should be sanctioned by the Supreme Court Disciplinary Counsel for an anonymous claim their own fiduciary duty required them to make on a timely basis and put their name on if they had evidence of misconduct by STRS board members.

This article may be read here.

Cleveland.com: Guarding actuarial health should be job one for teachers’ pensions

From the Toledo eBlade

May 19, 2025

Guarding actuarial health should be job one for teachers’ pensions

A GUEST EDITORIAL BY CLEVELAND.COM

OHIO TEACHER pensions at both local schools and community and state colleges are handled by the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio. Founded in 1920, the STRS says it is “one of the largest public pension funds in the United States,” managing about $90 billion in pension funds for half a million teachers and retirees.

But internal upheavals have led to policy swings between austerity and benefits generosity that could interfere with good actuarial oversight of the huge pension system.

Instead of shoring up its future by extending the years needed to be able to retire on a full pension, the system has twice recently shortened that time. And that’s happening just as state lawmakers are contemplating a crackdown on actuarial standards for all five of Ohio’s public pensions.

Plus, why make it easier to retire earlier on a full pension in a state with a teacher shortage, and where the accumulated wisdom of a seasoned teacher can be priceless for the students served?

The system also needs greater attention to its long-term health.

Cleveland.com’s Anna Staver reported that last month, state Rep. Adam Bird, of Clermont County in southwest Ohio, had announced launch by the state’s Retirement Study Council of a 50-state study of how others handle teacher pensions.

Amid these warning signs, STRS also has a leadership vacuum.

A swell of retiree anger after five straight years of not getting cost-of-living-adjustments (from 2017-2022) spurred a shake-up in the 11-member STRS board that’s led to years of turmoil.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit a year ago, seeking the removal of board members Wade Steen (who has since rolled off the board, leaving an open seat), and Rudy Fichtenbaum, who’s currently board chair. The lawsuit alleges the two men “breached their fiduciary duties” by trying “to steer as much as 70% of STRS’s current assets ... to a shell company that lacks any indicia of legitimacy and has backdoor ties to Steen and Fichtenbaum themselves.”

Steen and Fichtenbaum deny the allegations; the case is pending in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Meanwhile, the system’s longtime executive director, Bill Neville, has left and his position remains vacant. STRS is now being run by an interim executive director.

That may be contributing to the system’s misplaced decisions to gin up benefits and push earlier retirements rather than improve its actuarial outlook.

Last December, the system paid out a onetime supplemental benefit to eligible retirees — financed by $306 million in investment earnings, STRS announced. That was the same time, that the system “lowered the years of service teachers needed before retiring” at full benefits.

In April of this year, the fund said that on July 1 it would add permanent 1.5 percent cost-of-living adjustments to the benefit of eligible retirees who’d started collecting benefits on or before June 1, 2021.

And effective June 1, STRS lowered to age 32 the cutoff for a full pension, and to age 27, retirement on a reduced pension.

Yet the system now says it needs a 4 percent boost in pension contributions above the 28 percent being paid in on a 50-50 basis by teachers and their school employers — but without saying by whom that increased contribution would be paid.

That sets up a battle between teachers unions, who think school systems should finance the added 4 percent, and school districts facing possible funding cuts in the next two-year budget.

Meantime, state Sen. Mark Romanchuk, a Mansfield Republican, has introduced a placeholder bill, Senate Bill 69, that awaits specifics on how to “Reform the state’s public retirement system law.”

But it’s evident lawmakers want to see tighter actuarial standards.

STRS’ Interim Executive Director Aaron Hood told the STRS board in March that the state’s five public pension systems may be asked to reduce from 30 to 20 years their funding requirement — e.g., the amount of time they need to close the gap between assets and potential liabilities.

All of this adds up to one thing: STRS needs to prioritize its actuarial health over actions designed to mollify teachers and retirees.

The pension system needs to make consistently wise decisions to preserve its assets while serving teachers’ interests, without giving away the store through unnecessary and counterproductive earlier and earlier retirement ages.

This article may be read here.