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.

............................................................................................

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

The Greatest Show on Earth? Compliments of John Curry

Letter to the Attorney General

Below is my letter to AG Dave Yost 08/26/2025 with special thanks to Bob Buerkle for permitting me to use his comments of 07/12/2025. This message was also sent that same day (August 26) to Governor DeWine, the Speaker of the House, the President of the Senate and Representative Adam Bird, Chairman of the ORSC. To date I've not had a response from any of them. I will also be sending it to my representative and senator. This is something we ALL need to do.

Dean Dennis takes on the issue of Ohio legislators' sneaky early morning attack (a.k.a. "the Midnight Massacre") designed to seize from Ohio's teachers total control of their pension system

While you were sleeping, a cabal of Ohio's legislators were at work

By Dean Dennis

August 25, 2025

At the August STRS Ohio public board meeting, I decided to scrap my planned address and go off script. This is why.

As most of you know by now, Ohio House Bill 96, Ohio’s annual operating budget bill, contained a nefarious amendment designed to eliminate the voices of Ohio's teachers.

At 1:30 in the morning, the day when Ohio’s legislators would vote on the Ohio budget bill, Representative Adam Bird pulled a fast one. The representative from New Richmond, representing the 66th district, unscrupulously slipped an unrelated amendment into the over 3,000 page HB 96 budget bill.

The amendment reconfigured the State Teachers Retirement Board by reducing the number of elected teachers from 7 to 3, while increasing the appointed members from 4 to 8. Simply put, appointed bureaucrats would replace the majority of democratically elected members.

The question many are asking is why?

In the last four annual STRS board elections, which represent over 500,000 stakeholders of the pension system, members have elected “reform-minded” members. The candidates were elected on the platform of transparency of investments and challenging the fees STRS was paying to Wall Street in the form of opaque private equity (PE) investments. These investments are fraught with non-disclosure agreements. Reform-minded board members pushed the idea that STRS investment managers shouldn’t lose money trying to beat the market and would be better off, in the long run, by just trying to match the market. This implied that a proportion of active management could be replaced by passive management. This signaled a threat to some of the STRS management.

When seated, the reformers exposed that STRS management was understating investment fees. They exposed benchmarks for staff performance bonuses that were bogus, yet investment staff were being awarded roughly $10 million in performance bonuses annually while failing to beat the market. Reformers also identified, along with their paid consultants, that Ohio’s legislature was underfunding the pension system.

Ohio is a non-Social Security State. In non-Social Security States, the average employer contribution rate is approximately 30%. In Ohio, it is 14% and has been this rate for 40 years. This underfunding, along with years of lack of oversight of the pension plan, has resulted in retirees having no inflation protection and active teachers having to work longer. At the same time, the active teacher employee contribution rate has increased by 40%.

You would have thought that Ohio’s legislators would be pleased that the reform board members have identified these problems, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, if you follow the money, our elected board members likely became a threat to certain powerful interest groups within the legislature.

For starters, it is often thought that money from private equity funds frequently ends up in PACs (political action committees), benefiting political parties. Wall Street derives much of its revenue from public pension systems such as ours. But, in Ohio, that’s not likely the only reason.

More importantly, there is a group of influential Ohio politicians intent on pushing the EdChoice voucher program at the expense of public education and to the detriment of our 500,000-plus STRS members. Governor DeWine, Attorney Dave Yost, House Speaker Matt Huffman, and Senate President Rob McColley all support EdChoice. So, when our board identifies the need for at least a half billion dollars in the way of an employer contribution rate increase, while the budget for vouchers has set aside approximately $2.4 billion over the next two years, there is a problem.

Sadly, Adam Bird, a retired school superintendent and current chair of the Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC), was used to silence the voice of teachers by reconfiguring the STRS board. This would help pave the way for EdChoice vouchers to steer taxpayer dollars away from public schools and enrich private and religious schools (essentially, schools associated with the archdiocese). Here is a rough example of how this works.

A family sends two of their children to a Catholic high school. The tuition is $10,000, so the family spends $20,000 annually. However, in Ohio, under the EdChoice voucher program, the state gives this family $7,500 per student. The family now has $15,000 to use towards their $20,000 bill. So, the $20,000 bill is reduced to $5,000. In many cases, if not most, the family never sent their child to a public school. As you can see, this essentially becomes a monetary gift for the rich paid by Ohio taxpayers. In Ohio, EdChoice is often sold as a vehicle to help impoverished children escape low-achieving schools. The reality is that, from 2023-24 data, 90% of students in Ohio’s voucher programs are not considered low-income. As the EdChoice voucher choice has expanded in Ohio, the percentage of low-income students in Ohio's voucher program has dramatically dropped, in Cleveland from 33% to 7%.

In 2018, the infamous Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow collapsed after scamming Ohio taxpayers out of nearly $189 million. Before this, its founder had donated $1.2 million to politicians. It will be important for Ohioans to start following super PACs like The American Federation for Children by seeing which politicians they are influencing through their financial support. There are also likely to be a slew of PACs that will indirectly support the archdiocese in its effort through PACs to divert Ohio’s students away from public education.

Ohio STRS is a public pension fund for over half a million teachers. This pension plan has the support of their families and friends, which total millions. The Adam Birds of the legislature need to be voted out of serving Ohioans. We cannot have 8 of our 11 STRS board members serving us when they are being appointed by politicians who receive nefarious PAC monies and want to harm public education.

Dean Dennis, Founder

STRS Ohio Watchdogs 

Flashback to July 12, 2025: Bob Buerkle speaks out on the draconian benefit cuts made by STRS: "To me, it feels like we have been hog-tied, skewered, rotisserized and served up on a legislative all-you-can-eat luncheon platter."

From Bob Buerkle, STRS Retiree

July 12, 2025

After what has been happening to us lately I decided to speak up about how I feel. 

In many states there is only one pension system that covers every state worker; the police, the judges, the politicians, the teachers, the other school workers, the librarians in public libraries and all other government workers. 

My point is this, when everybody is in the same boat they all have skin in the same game and all members will work together to find solutions.  Do you think the legislators and other OPERS Members are willing to fight for our STRS rights? Hell no! 

When pension reform hit after the "Great Financial Crisis" STRS passed out information at each Board meeting for over a year which showed what other states were doing.  NO OTHER STATE PUNISHED THEIR RETIREES OR ACTIVE TEACHERS IN THE WAY THAT OHIO DID. They all grandfathered their retirees' benefits, including COLAs, and tweaked or phased in new retirement requirements. 

Even the former in-house STRS actuary, Brian Grinnell, stated in a Board meeting that "STRS chose a different path." 

There has not been a single state pension failure since the "Great Financial Crisis" even though every other state avoided the draconian path of cuts taken by STRS Ohio. 

To me, it feels like we have been hog-tied, skewered, rotisserized and served up on a legislative all-you-can-eat luncheon platter.

J.D. Tremmel on why lawmakers must act NOW to reform STRS before Ohio's taxpayers are forced to pay for the gross mismanagement of STRS' dysfunctional pension system

Toledo Blade, 08/23/2025: 

Saturday Essay: STRS mismanagement tax extracts a hidden cost of new school year

"Property tax reform in Ohio means nothing without pension reform. Unless lawmakers act now, Ohio taxpayers will be forced to pay a mismanagement tax: billions wasted on underperforming investments, excessive fees, and bureaucratic self-preservation. Lawmakers can — and must — end this by reforming STRS and eliminating the mismanagement tax at its source. If they fail to act, Ohioans will remember exactly who made them foot the bill for someone else’s dysfunction."

By J.D. Tremmel

Aug 23, 2025

AS OHIO’S kids head back to school, families are bracing for the usual expenses — supplies, activities, maybe new clothes. What they are not expecting is another hit to their wallets: a property tax hike they never voted for. Not because of a bond levy or a new school project, but because the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, or STRS, a $96 billion public pension fund plagued by mismanagement and bloated bonuses, is quietly triggering a chain reaction that will hit your wallet — hard.

STRS is dramatically underperforming because it insists on using expensive, actively managed investments — a strategy that has produced weak returns while enriching insiders. In fact, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Equable Institute, STRS is between $20 billion and $30 billion in debt — 44 percent of unfunded liabilities are from underperforming investments.

Because STRS can’t meet its obligations, it is now calling for a rise in “employer contributions.” That “employer” is your local school district. And how do school districts make up that shortfall? Primarily through property taxes.

If you own a home in Ohio — or ever hope to — you will have to pay for STRS’s mismanagement while they give themselves bonuses in the millions.

This is not just unfair. It is unconscionable.

Ohioans are already aghast at their property tax bills — and rightly so. In some counties, homeowners are facing double-digit increases. For many families, property taxes represent one of the most punishing household expenses, made worse by inflation and a lack of legislative action. And yet here comes another backdoor hike, buried in the mechanics of a broken pension fund that has operated for years with two sets of books: one that hides losses to justify millions in executive bonuses and another that shows they are doing poorly to justify not giving their funders real cost-of-living increases.

What’s saddest is that neither the fix nor the math is complicated. We know that pension funds like STRS have underperformed passive, low-cost indexes since the Global Financial crisis of 2008.

A switch to index-based investing — a strategy which consistently outperforms active investing — is a no-brainer.

In fact, several experts in pension investments — including those at leading think tanks, as well as myself — have consistently demonstrated how a shift to passive investing could save STRS billions. Those savings could be used to implement decent cost-of-living adjustments for retirees and avoid a taxpayer-funded bailout. Yet STRS leadership — and the entrenched network of consultants and beneficiaries who profit from the status quo — have dug in their heels. Now the risk of further tax hikes grows with every day of legislative inaction on two fronts: the stalemate over meaningful property tax reform, and the refusal to address STRS’s structural failure.

Reforming STRS is no longer a technical pension issue. It is a test of political courage.

Eliminating the STRS mismanagement tax as part of broader property-tax reform is an outstanding way for the General Assembly to be serious about confronting the underlying drivers of Ohio’s property tax burden. It would show that state leaders understand whom they represent.

Lawmakers know STRS is in crisis. They’ve seen the audits. They’ve heard the whistleblowers. They know what is happening inside the fund — and they know what will happen outside of it if nothing changes.

Property tax reform in Ohio means nothing without pension reform. Unless lawmakers act now, Ohio taxpayers will be forced to pay a mismanagement tax: billions wasted on underperforming investments, excessive fees, and bureaucratic self-preservation. Lawmakers can — and must — end this by reforming STRS and eliminating the mismanagement tax at its source. If they fail to act, Ohioans will remember exactly who made them foot the bill for someone else’s dysfunction.

J.D. Tremmel, partner, QED, a Columbus-based investment management firm.

First Published August 23, 2025, 12:00 a.m.

Trina Prufer: What is Lawfare?

From Trina Kay Prufer

August 23, 2025

STRS is a malevolent financial institution, backed by the Ohio Legislature, that systematically strips teachers of financial security, power and dignity. It will never work for teachers as the “law“ can be exploited by those who have the influence to do so.

What is Lawfare?

Lawfare is a fairly recent term describing a legal action undertaken as a hostile campaign against a country or group. It is the misuse of the law to achieve an objective.

When the history of STRS is written, lawfare will be seen as the core process that stole wealth from members and hid STRS mismanagement, conflicts of interest and grift.

It started with relatively “small” acts of misappropriation (international travel, use of cars, giveaway cafe, etc..) that were rationalized away by the ORSC… and grew into a perversion of the very legal system embodied by the Ohio Constitution.

Below are just a few examples:

For teachers, a contract is not a contract. The retirement savings of a lifetime could be diminished by the stroke of a pen. All the legislature had to do was declare the defined-benefit COLA obligation “unsustainable“, thereby using its police powers to erase the financial obligation owed to teachers (SB 342). The meaning of the word “VESTED” was obliterated.

Adding insult to injury, the true meaning of the “reform” legislation was hidden from teachers in the ORC and STRS documents. Teachers were blatantly deceived, as FULL DISCLOSURE, was conveniently omitted from the statute. Teachers were misled into believing the COLA had been reduced to 2%, when the underlying funding model did not include this provision. By not defining “financial integrity“, any and every COLA could be interpreted by STRS as harming the “financial integrity” of the system.

Perhaps one of the most blatant uses of lawfare is the AGs harassment of Steen and Fichtenbaum, accusing them of dereliction of their fiduciary responsibilities, when nothing could be further from the truth. The AG and STRS attorneys knew full well they were exaggerating a difference of opinion in how STRS funds should be invested, using this false narrative to gain full State control of the fund.

And now, the misuse of the law has exploded the Ohio Constitution. For teachers, laws can be written that are not only misleading, but “passed” without any of the checks and balances essential to the process. What makes this newly configured STRS board LEGITIMATE, if their authority comes from an ILLEGITIMATE process?

STRS is a malevolent financial institution, backed by the Ohio Legislature, that systematically strips teachers of financial security, power and dignity. It will never work for teachers as the “law“ can be exploited by those who have the influence to do so. The value in understanding the term “lawfare” is that it sheds light on how and why this has happened.

Dan MacDonald's report on the August 21, 2025 STRS board meeting: OLD TIMES WITH UNCLEAR FUTURE NOW

From Dan MacDonald

August 23, 2025

OLD TIMES WITH UNCLEAR FUTURE NOW

Due to a medical issue, I was unable to drive to Columbus for the August 21st STRS Board meeting. I did attend the full meeting via Zoom. I appreciate more and more those of you that attend this way. It is often difficult to know who exactly is speaking or even all that is said.

Board Member Michael Harkness called the Audit Committee to order at 8:33 am on Thursday. The audit staff presented an STRS’s calendar of internal audits which included completed, in process, and future. Some discussion especially IT and the protection of account information. Additionally, outside consultant CROWE, LLC will be performing the 2026 STRS audit. Ohio State Auditor, Keith Faber, assigned CROWE to do the STRS audit. This is 5th year of a 5-year contract. Procedures and a timeline were presented. Outside consultant ACA Group then shared their procedures and timeline in performing a GIPS report, Global Investment Performance Standards. GIPS is the gold award for financial verification and reporting.  STRS is the only public Ohio pension plan that chooses this review. It is a “verification” NOT an “audit.”

The Investment Committee followed being called to order about 10:20 am. Staff presented June returns. The preliminary net total fund return for June was a positive 2.4%. Total investment assets ended the fiscal year at $100.6 billion, up $5.3 billion for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. [The fund is at an all-time high, but still short about $20 billion to be fully funded.] It was pointed out that the Investment Department has not reached their benchmarks over the past three years, close, but not at or above benchmark returns. The total net return for FY 2025 was a positive 10.4%. Total fund net return annualized for the past five years was 10.3%.  Over 5-years the Investment Department net value added was $2.1 billion and the Performance Based Incentives paid were $38.6 million, a 53x return for its cost. July’s return was a positive 0.7 percent.  Total investment assets ended July approximately $100.9 billion.

Both outside consultants Meketa and Callan shared their accolades on the investment portfolio. Meketa did point out that Real Estate has still not recovered from the COVID era, but in the new asset allocations, the real estate portion on the portfolio has been reduced as well as adjusting its purchases. A building own for 30 years in NYC was recently sold (8/14/2025) for about $1.1 billion, 590 Madison. [Google 590 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022] Other topics covered: Proxy voting summary for six months ending June 30, 2025, a review of security compliance policies and procedures, and the semiannual derivatives exposure as of June 30, 2025.

The actual Board meeting was called to order by Chair Fichtenbaum at 12:25 pm. New Director of STRS, Steven Toole was introduced, and minutes were approved. The agenda was altered to Routine Matters. Bills were paid after which there was a discussion of chair and vice chair elections, usually conducted at the August meeting. Hopefully you know that big changes are coming to the STRS Board as of September 30, 2025. HB 96 changed the composition of the Board to 8 appointed seats and no one who has contributed to STRS is eligible to be chair or vice chair.  Appointees will receive health care and a stipend. As elected members terms conclude the Board will be reduced until only 1 retiree and two actives are elected and serving. 

After much discussion, the Board voted to defer this election to the August meeting and have Fichtenbaum and Jones remain in their positions until September 29, 2025, unless HB 96 doesn’t allow this choice. [There are now 3 lawyers sitting at a side table representing the Ohio government who in my estimation had no clue either on how to proceed, but still nicely injecting non-compliance of fiduciary responsibilities threats. What a state and country we now live within.]

Also discussed was the makeup of the Disability Review Panel. For years STRS staff have desired to remove elected members from the panel.  The Board unanimously voted to keep elected seats on the panel.

Ten retirees and one active spoke during Public Participation. Two thanked Carol Correthers for her service dating back to her first being elected to an active seat in 2009. Others addressed HB 96 and perks to political appointees, not meeting Benchmarks for years, COLA, investment fees, STRS staff perks, fiduciary responsibilities, and the online retirement calculator. Lunch.

The Board reconvened at 3:13 pm after the lunch break. The Finance Department presented revision language on the Health Care Plan Policy. STRS and outside actuarial consultant Cheiron are concerned that the Health Care Plan is different from the typical situation contemplated by a pension funding policy in that no employer contributions have been made since 2014 and the Health Care Plan is non-guaranteed; it’s an optional benefit, and is secondary to the pension plan. Proposed language removes “plan” and “management” with “funding.”  Also wanted is a statement to Ohio Revised Code to be clear. An appendix is being added to describe the health care scorecard and will replace the Metrics Guide Health Care Plan Management Policy. Portions of the current policy will be deleted “to streamline.” [As you all know from your district’s contract language changes are made to protect one side or the other. I hope the Board members look closely at the suggested deletions and revisions.] 

Carol Correthers' 16 years on the Board was acknowledged. Executive Director Toole gave the Director’s Report which covered: Stakeholder Meetings, a Chief Investment Officer search, a perhaps new records system since STaRS is being phased out, Member Communication which includes his intro video, responses to media messages, Town Hall presentations [there is to be one in early September in the Cleveland area], then general updates. 1,006 retirement applications were submitted in July bringing the total to 4,226 vs. last year 2,489.

The Chair and Board then had some cleanup from Routine Matters and under Old/New Business Davidson suggested the Board address goals for the next 3-5 years. Sellers ask if a letter might be drafted from the Board to legislatures. Toole offered to help draft with staff. Correthers pushed for the next election and voting out pro-voucher candidates. Lawyers and appointed members warned of consequences, sensitive times, and letting others carry the Board’s concerns. Other than maybe Davidson’s suggestions, there appears to be no boat rocking from the Board.

The meeting adjourned at 4:15 pm. Next meeting September 17 – 19, 2025 

Robin Rayfied to STRS board: I lament the lawmakers’ efforts to thwart reforms and silence the democratically elected voice of educators in Ohio.

Robin Rayfield's speech to STRS board

August 21, 2025

I lament the lawmakers’ efforts to thwart reforms and silence the democratically-elected voice of educators in Ohio.

Good morning,My name is Dr. Robin Rayfield, Executive Director of ORTA and a retired member of STRS.

I want to take this time to congratulate the accomplishments of the board in recent years. The restoration of some of the lost guaranteed COLAs is appreciated. The effort to make reforms, as we know, were noticed by the people that want to stifle reforms at STRS, namely Wall St money people and the Ohio politicians that do their bidding. I lament the lawmakers’ efforts to thwart reforms and silence the democratically elected voice of educators in Ohio.

One example of the reforms that have emerged from the democratically elected STRS board has resulted in questions about the benchmarks that STRS use to evaluate investment performance. These questions regarding the legitimacy of these benchmarks remain. However, even if we accept the benchmarks in place as legitimate, STRS has failed to meet or exceed its overall benchmark in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Yet in each of these years STRS investment staff were paid bonuses. On domestic equity STRS does use a legitimate benchmark based upon the Russell 3000. How has the investment staff done when compared to the Russell 3000? Not well.

•  Did STRS domestic equities outperform the Russell 3000 in 2025 – NO

•  Has STRS domestic equities outperformed the Russell 3000 for the last 3 years? – NO

•  Has STRS domestic equities outperformed the Russell 3000 for the last 5 years? – NO

•  Has STRS domestic equities outperformed the Russell 3000 for the last 10 years? – NO

STRS claims they have beaten the benchmark for the last 10 years, but net of fees they have not.

STRS reports their investment performance ‘gross of fees’. Consider that the audited or actuarial return is always twelve to fifty basis points less than the STRS reported returns. Why are bonus payments calculated on gross of fees performance and benefits available to pay obligations to retirees based on actuarial or audited performance?  Bonus payments have to be based upon the same number used to calculate benefit payments. After all, we can only spend what we really earn.

Suzanne Laird to STRS board: My dear democratically-elected Board members: I urge you to fight as never before. This is no time to be timid — 500,000 teachers are counting on you. Go down fighting.

Suzanne Laird's speech to STRS board

August 21, 2025

My name is Suzanne Laird.

I taught for over 30 years in Ohio’s public schools, and retired with a “guaranteed” 3 percent COLA.

Thus far, after 12 years, I have been denied more than one hundred thousand dollars.

 I represent myself and thousands of others like me……

Good Morning, Members of MY Board, and welcome, Mr. Toole:

You may start your timer now.

A very curious video appeared in my inbox this week — a man in a suit said, “Your pension is safe and secure,” and “Your money will be there when you retire.”  Where is my one hundred thousand dollars? Where is my guaranteed 3% COLA?

Is it in the pockets of the partisan political appointees who will be incurring MORE costs every month? (Yes, I said political: don’t tell me you’re not; in this gerrymandered state, under the thumb of a DIShonorable governor, under the eye of the subservient AG reps.)

Is my money being squandered on MORE town halls, similar to the vanity project the last guy wasted all that money on? Or the losing cafeteria venture, in an era of Door Dash? Eight vehicles no one can account for; the optics of removing a glass wall, while never mentioning the associated cost? And last, but certainly not least, the bonuses?

This curious video ended with a thank you, not to the current and retired teachers who are paying for all this largesse, but to the employees of STRS! If we are thought of at all, we are an afterthought.

Later today, we will see a graphic in the Executive Director’s report bemoaning the fact that 57% of these employees can retire soon. With a COLA. The word of the day, kids, is “attrition.” Say it with me now, “attrition.” We do not need 500 employees anymore.

I notice the last two items on the agenda today — a “discussion” of the chair and vice-chair, and the “composition” of the disability review panel. Do they intend to stifle the voices of teachers completely, the only ones who really comprehend this profession and the toll it takes?

My dear democratically-elected Board members: I urge you to fight as never before. This is no time to be timid — 500,000 teachers are counting on you. Go down fighting. 

Whaddya got to lose?

Cathy Steinhauser to STRS board: Bottom line, our COLA was taken so in fairness no bonuses so get this pension back to where it should be sooner rather than later!

Cathy Steinhauser's speech to STRS board

August 21, 2025

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

Welcome Mr. Toole, to the lion’s den of STRS. You have your work cut out for you as we expect you to restore our permanent COLA yesterday and make this madness dissipate that pensioners have been subjected to since the mid 2010’s. I’m the unpaid unofficial authority on what a fiduciary is. I have spent too many hours researching retirement board’s fiduciary responsibilities. This is my 28th time in public participation to remind everyone who works for STRS on what being a FIDUCIARY involves.

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” *The Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Fiduciaries are charged with the highest legal duties of loyalty and prudence specifically with the duty to act solely and exclusively in the interest of their beneficiaries.  In the case of state pension trustees, these fiduciary duties require that state assets be invested solely to maximize FINANCIAL return. According to Edward Siedle, public pensions are, under applicable law, supposed to be subject to public scrutiny and accountability.  Any private investment manager unwilling to submit to public scrutiny, simply should not be eligible to handle assets.

Yesterday, a pensioner asked AI (Artificial Intelligence): 

“Is it a fiduciary duty for a retirement system to pay bonuses to their employees?”  

Answer: It is not (a fiduciary duty for a retirement system to pay bonuses to their employees).  The fiduciary duties of a retirement plan include acting in the best interest of the plan participants and beneficiaries, which does not include the obligation to pay bonuses.  Bonuses are discretionary and do not count toward the regular rate of pay for overtime calculations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Therefore, a fiduciary would not be required to pay bonuses to employees as part of their fiduciary responsibilities. *U.S. Department of Labor 

Well, well, well…then why do we seem to have a separate set of laws at STRS when it clearly states that bonuses are not an obligation? Our STRS lawyers and the AG reps are giving out false information without doing their research…LYING to the Board Members! 

Did you work harder for your paycheck from STRS than teachers did for 30 - 35 yrs.? We lose sleep worrying how best to serve our student’s needs…did you lay awake at night worrying about us pensioners and how you were going to reinstate a permanent COLA as quickly as possible? Most likely not!  STRS exists to pay teachers. Pensioners have lost tens of thousands of dollars without a COLA due to STRS private equity dealings and we have suffered greatly.  Bottom line, our COLA was taken so in fairness no bonuses so get this pension back to where it should be sooner rather than later! 

Robin Beebe: reminders to STRS board of a list of needs

Robin Beebe's speech to STRS board

August 21, 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. If another 10-11 years go by with a 0% COLA, I will be denied a total of $429,000!!! Repeat, $429,000!!! LET THAT SINK IN....

          For about two years now, I have stood up and tried my best to creatively present 3 minute Public Comment Speeches to the STRS Board advocating for reform and to do the right thing for active and retired teachers, my people, my tribe. The purpose of Public Comments is to shine a light on issues and problems and bring them to the attention of the Board.

          It being the beginning of the new school year in Ohio, I brought my little school box. Let me open it and shine a light in there... (shine flashlight on each card as they are pulled out of school box)

                 Ta-dah, here is the need for a - 3% COLA!!!

                 Ta-dah, here is the need for - INDEX FUNDS

                 Ta-dah, here is the need for - NO BONUSES

                 Ta-dah, here is the need to - MAKE THE CAFETERIA PROFITABLE

                 Ta-dah, here is the need to - SELL THE TAJ

                 Ta-dah, here is the need to - REDUCE STAFF, ESPECIALLY                           

                    THE INVESTMENT STAFF

                 Ta-dah, here is the need - TO FIND YOUR LOST MORAL COMPASSES

          I could go on and on, but...my batteries are running low (flashlight off).

          Today, I stand before you, STUNNED at the despicable Midnight Machiavellian Massacre & Power Grab by the ORSC Legislators in removing our Elected Teacher Board Seats and the orchestrated, systematic replacing of them with and a majority of their appointees (which will include a monetary stipend and health benefits!)  This is stressful beyond belief. There is a real CRUELNESS as to how this was done at 1:00 a.m. by attaching it to a Budget Bill. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  The phrase "Nothing good happens after midnight" cautions that late night activities are generally unwise or lead to negative consequences. In this case, ILLEGAL ONES!!! HOLY TOLEDO!!! WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE DO THIS????

          Now, we teachers must look at LEGAL MEASURES that can be taken to address and rectify this TRAVESTY.  We must also look to the BALLOT BOX and upcoming ELECTIONS to address and rectify this TRAVESTY.

          Finally, I am not only stunned.  I am also so very, very, very SAD..... But, right now....this is how things are.                

                                                   SHAME!!!!!!

          This is how it leaves me feeling..... (Place tape over my mouth.)

August 2025 

Public Comments to STRS Board

From John Curry

August 20, 2025

Thanks to ChatGPT and Chris Tobe we have this VERY interesting information that came from ChatGPT:

Steve Toole: "The Honor of a Lifetime" (Video)

From STRS 

Aug. 19, 2025

The Honor of a Lifetime

Find out why STRS Ohio’s new executive director, Steve Toole, calls his new leadership role “the honor of a lifetime.” Steve values “serving those who serve” and is looking forward to working with members and system stakeholders to build a healthy, sustainable pension fund and to lead with integrity.

View the video here.

From Pension Warriors by Edward Siedle

Welcome To The Largest Public Pension Private Equity Document Release In History!

The Ohio Teachers pension was finally ordered to release records related to hundreds of its costliest, riskiest private investments. You're invited to review the once-secret documents.

By edward siedle

Aug 18, 2025

This May, the Court of Appeals of Ohio handed us a decisive victory in our longstanding battle for public access to investment documents related to over 100 investment firms managing tens of billions in more than 400 private funds for the ultra-secretive State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio. While STRS elected not to appeal the Tenth District’s decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, the pension claimed that it was contractually required to notify each and every one of these investment managers of our public records victory and offer them the opportunity to assert any applicable exemptions under Ohio’s Sunshine Laws. Court order be damned—even after 5 years of litigation ending in victory, STRS said we still had to wait until each and every money manager had a chance to determine whether or not to provide the disclosure.

Months later, thankfully, our wait is now over. As indicated below, STRS has provided us with the first batch of its private investment documents, as approved by some of its money managers.

STRS’s response to the Court’s decision was profoundly disturbing in multiple respects.

First, why would any prudent fiduciary enter into an agreement with any money manager—worse still, each and every one of over 100 private firms managing over 400 funds—to withhold from the public, including participants and taxpayers, fundamental information regarding tens of billions in pension investments? Public pensions are, under applicable law, supposed to be subject to public scrutiny and accountability. Any private investment manager unwilling to submit to public scrutiny, simply should not be eligible to handle assets.

The contracts between STRS and its money managers should require firms to affirmatively agree to comply with, not evade, all applicable state laws.

The contracts between STRS and its money managers should require firms to affirmatively agree to comply with, not evade, all applicable state laws.

How is it possible that STRS staff approved contracts with over 100 of the pension’s private investment managers which included similar provisions shielding the managers from public scrutiny and potentially harming the pension? Coincidence?

Second, even if the pension imprudently entered into such agreements with each and every of its costliest, highest risk investment managers, are these agreements which favor Wall Street at the expense of stakeholders enforceable under Ohio law? Can these imprudent agreements trump the decision of the Court of Appeals? Does Wall Street have the final word on what the public is allowed to see?

Are these agreements which favor Wall Street at the expense of stakeholders enforceable under Ohio law? Can these imprudent agreements trump the decision of the Court of Appeals? Does Wall Street have the final word on what the public is allowed to see?

After decades of unchallenged public pension private investment secrecy schemes—in Ohio and nationally—answers to these troubling questions are long overdue. To state the obvious: Private investments don’t belong in public pensions!

Private investments don’t belong in public pensions!

   •   You’re Invited To Review The Private Investment Documents

The good news is that STRS has now provided us with a substantial first batch of its private investment documents. Here is the link to a Sharefile folder created by the law firm representing STRS (Isaac Wiles) where you can access all of the documents we have received to date. You do not need a password to access this folder. You may wish to download the documents and share them with others.

https://isaacwiles.sharefile.com/i/i2be38271f6246be8 

Here’s another link the documents which may be easier to access and download:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cXRwcfpES6HbYLQ4WdSCjpfVHNWQzwf1 

To our knowledge, this is the largest release by any public pension of private investment documents. Resistance to disclosure has been fierce. For over two decades, public pensions across America and their private investment managers have uniformly opposed release of such fundamental investment documents to the public.

Now that private equity has been approved for 401ks—supposedly based upon decades of proven performance in our nation’s public pensions—every investor needs to understand these high cost, high risk, secretive investments.

We will also release to the public any and all subsequent batches of private investment documents received from STRS.

To be clear, many of the STRS documents are redacted, some heavily. Investors may wish to note which firms and funds redact the most and the type of information withheld. Certain information withheld in the documents, and additional damning disclosures, can be obtained from the firms’ SEC filings (Investment Advisor Public Disclosure), particularly Form ADV, Part 2.

Regardless of the many redactions, plenty is disclosed in these documents which should be of concern to stakeholders. We recommend you use Artificial Intelligence to assist in your review and pay special attention to matters such as:

•  Conflicts of interest;

•  Self-dealing;

•  Confidentiality;

•  Valuation;

•  Regulatory concerns;

•  Performance and other fees; and

•  Risk factors.

Think of this project as a treasure hunt, only you’re not looking for treasure. Let us know what you find. Happy Hunting!

Read this article online here.

From ORTA: Ohio teachers pension board members sue Attorney General Dave Yost over legal fees

Ohio teachers pension board members sue Attorney General Dave Yost over legal fees

Writer: ORTA 

August 15, 2025

Two former STRS Ohio board members are suing Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost over legal representation in a lawsuit against them.*

What happens when your lawyer sues you and he gets to pick which attorneys can defend you and how much they should get paid?

State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio Board Chairman Rudy Fichtenbaum and former Board Member Wade Steen are suing Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost over just that question.

In May 2024, Yost sued Fichtenbaum and Steen, accusing them of violating their fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the public pension system.

The Ohio attorney general is the lawyer for STRS and its board members. If outside counsel is hired to represent the state on any matter, it's the attorney general whomakes that call.

But Steen and Fichtenbaum hired their own legal team to represent them and sent their legal bills to Yost for payment. The attorney general's office declined to cover the bills and asserted that Yost would pick their lawyers and determined how much they should be paid, according to a new lawsuit filed Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Steen and Fichtenbaum balked at this arrangement. Their legal team sued Yost. It's the latest dramatic twist at STRS, the state's second largest public pension system. The board oversees $95 billion invested on behalf of 500,000 retirees and teachers.

The fund has faced historic turmoil in recent years that has included top manager departures, anonymous memos, multiple lawsuits and an ethics investigation.

The turmoil prompted state legislators to revamp the pension board. STRS Ohio is currently governed by an 11-member board of four appointed financial experts, five teachers and two retirees. Teachers and retirees will lose their majority, and power will shift to financial experts appointed by politicians.

STRS is one of five public pension systems in Ohio. Combined, the five systems have about $225 billion invested for 655,000 public employees, 486,000 retirees and 1.1 million former government workers.

Public employees in Ohio aren't in the Social Security system, so the pension funds are their primary retirement money.

Read this article online at https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/state/2025/08/15/strs-ohio-pension-board-chair-sues-ohio-attorney-general-dave-yost/85665537007/ 

*Correction:  Rudy Fichtenbaum is not a former STRS Ohio Board member. He is currently the Chairman of the STRS Ohio Retirement Board.

STRS Ohio Board member Rudy Fichtenbaum and former Board member Wade Steen are incurring legal fees, defending themselves against the lawsuit brought against them by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. As you might imagine, the cost to defend a person from attack by the two most powerful people in the state is tremendous. ORTA will use donations from the Pension Defense Fund to help them pay their legal expenses. Help us fight for your pension by donating to ORTA's Pension Defense Fund. Make a donation today to the ORTA Pension Defense Fund

Related posts: Ohio AG files lawsuit to remove two state teachers' pension board members