Call to Action: Your pension belongs to you, not to a handful of clandestine politicians
- STRS Ohio Watchdogs
- Jul 17
- 5 min read
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As luck would have it, ORTA was in the process of changing the format of our newsletter when the recent action taken by the people in the Ohio Statehouse occurred. Since the ‘midnight massacre’ resulted in STRS members’ voices being silenced by the politicians on July 1, 2025, many groups, including ORTA, have voiced opposition to this action.
For those that are not aware of what happened, a summary is in order…
As the budget bill for Ohio was in its final stages, the chair of the ORSC, Adam Bird (a retired school administrator) placed an amendment in the budget bill that removed four elected STRS board members and replaced these four members with four ‘political appointees.’ This action ensures that the politicians, not the elected members (who are active and retired Ohio teachers), of the STRS board control the management of our retirement system. This is a calculated effort to thwart reform at STRS.
Interesting is the fact that over 5 years ago, ORTA went to the ORSC chair, Kirk Schuring, with a request that the legislators help with suggested reforms to the STRS pension system. ORTA’s concerns were centered around increasing transparency, changing the investment strategies, and modifying the performance-based incentives (bonus) policies. Mr. Schuring, a friend to educators who has since passed away, informed ORTA that the STRS members that the answer to reforming the STRS pension rested with the STRS board, not the legislators. He was direct in offering us advice that if teachers wanted to reform the system, they simply needed to elect STRS board members that would push for reforms. Well, we did just that. Over the next six elections for seats, members of STRS voted for people that pledged to reform the system.
The politicians in Ohio, led by Governor DeWine, have engaged in politically motivated actions to stop the reform efforts at STRS Ohio. Examples of this effort to stop reform:
Governor DeWine illegally removed reform minded Wade Steen. Mr. Steen won his challenge to DeWine’s illegal removal in court with a unanimous judgment by the courts.
DeWine then charged his attorney general Dave Yost with charging two reform board members, Wade Steen and Rudy Fichtenbaum for failing to fulfill their fiduciary duty and attempted to remove them from the board. Both are defending themselves in court at the present time. What is laughable is that the reason Yost charged these two men is based upon an anonymous memo written by the STRS management. We now know through court documents that the anonymous letter was written by STRS management who stood to lose power and money through the reforms.
When reformers won yet another seat on the STRS board, the governor and his henchmen attacked the STRS pension board with the current amendment to remove the elected seats on the pension board.
What is the response by ORTA?
ORTA is currently working with other interested parties to develop a broad-based response to this attack on democracy. It is imperative that the people negatively impacted by the politician’s latest move fight back. ORTA intends to work with the major unions of educators in Ohio to correct this injustice and ensure that teachers have a majority of voices on the STRS board. We hope to have a unified strategy developed and begin implementing this strategy soon.
ORTA has been asked several questions about this struggle. Listed below are some of the more common questions and responses:
Why would the governor and other political leaders go to such great lengths to silence teacher’s voices? This is difficult to answer as politicians rarely speak the truth about their motivations. Anything we say as an answer is an opinion. First, we follow the adage, follow the money.’ Are the politicians so dependent upon the money that Wall St. pays into the political system? Is the dark money that pollutes our political system so powerful that elected officials will turn their back on democracy? Another possibility is that this is yet another way to attack public education. Considering that the politicians reduced funding for public education in the current budget while putting over one billion dollars into private education, the elected officials in Ohio clearly want to destroy public schools. Taking away the benefit of a public pension for teachers certainly fits with this theory.
What reforms have taken place thus far that justify such an action by the legislators? What the media in Ohio have described as chaos at the STRS board is really nothing more than robust discussion about a system that has failed to deliver promised benefits to its members for over a decade. With the reduction in promised benefits beginning in 2012, members of STRS have questioned what is taking place at our pension. When it was exposed that investment employees at STRS were receiving bonus payments using their own performance as the benchmark people began asking questions. With a majority of seats controlled by status quo board members these questions were ignored. As more reformers were elected, these questions could no longer be ignored. To placate the membership a few of the promised benefits were restored. Promised COLAs in 2021, partial COLAs in 23, 24, and 25 were provided easing the burden of inflation. Changes in the performance-based incentive policy were implemented. These changes were resisted by the status quo members and robust discussion ensued. Discussion is not chaos. It is fiduciary duty in action. When the AG’s office and the governor do not get their way, the media intentionally print misleading information to show that there is chaos.
What reforms would ORTA like to see? Of course, ORTA would like to see a complete restoration of benefits, i.e., 30 years of service and guaranteed COLA. As teachers, we are familiar with compromise as we negotiated contracts throughout our careers. Rarely did we get everything we wanted at the bargaining table. We have been asked many times, “Will we ever get back to 30 years and 3% annual COLAs?’ ORTA’s response is ‘Maybe not, but we can work to get there.’ Currently, the years of service are 32 years. There is no permanent COLA. ORTA would support changes in the pension system that the board is working toward. It appears (this has not been stated by the board) that a stabilization at 32 years of service and a permanent COLA of 2% would be a compromise that everyone could live with.
ORTA would also fight for transparency at STRS. Despite STRS claims that they are transparent and share investment data, the facts simply do not match these claims. As stakeholders (and the ones that pay into the system) STRS members should know what the investment returns are. Not what STRS claims the investments returns are, but the actual, externally verified returns are. Any bonus payments must be measured against a Bonafide metric, and the externally verified returns must be used. This does not seem like chaos to ORTA. This is a reasonable standard to use when paying for performance.
ORTA recognizes that this recent move by the legislators is an attempt to wipe out all the recent success our members have enjoyed. Our victory in the Wade Steen court case, and our financial assistance with Dr. Fichtenbaum’s defense are important. However, these two legal battles have come at a high price.
The Pension Defense Fund has collected nearly $100,000. However, our costs are nearly $250,000. We need your help!
If ORTA joins in a coalition of other groups to fight the battle against the board takeover by the politicians, the need will be even greater. Our Pension Defense Fund needs are growing. With over 2,000 individuals contributing to the cause, the effort is a grassroots effort.
If you are able, make your contribution today.
