Columbus, Ohio (Wcmh) – The State budget adopted on Wednesday Includes a plan for revising the State Teacher ‘Retirement System (STRS).
Shortly after Wednesday at 1 a.m., the budget was added to change the composition of the 11-member Strs board. The board currently comprises seven elected teachers, but that would be reduced to just three with four fresh political representatives.
The Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association said that the legislator wants to ignore the needs of teachers and pensioners who have successfully elected so-called “reformers” as the StRS board during the last six elections.
They call for transparency in systems and a return of promised increases in life.
“We are not surprised that they would call the dead of night from the night as a leading political stunt,” said Robin Rayfield, Executive Director of Ohio Pension for the teacher association in Ohio. “You have no transparency. You know that you are typical of government officials, one in the morning, decide that you will include something in the household bill that has nothing to do with the budget, but has everything to do with destroying people.”
“I am everything for reforms, I’ve already said it, but that’s not a reform. I mean, that’s just a representative of power,” said OHIO, Sean Brennan (D-PARMA), a former teacher who is sitting in the Ohio House Pension Committee.
Like Rayfield, Brennan was shocked when he found out about the last minute of the budget, which the 11-member board is overtaken, which is currently being ruled by teachers with seven seats and pensioners.
“If we have up to two and two pensioners from five representatives on one, it is a big voice for the stakeholders who are most important for this board, and it’s just a shame,” he said.
The Republicans in the pension committee pushed the change without hearings to enable teachers and pensioners.
The pensioners have gone for years without promised increases in life in years, which indicates that the STRS investment staff sometimes doubles their salaries with inappropriate bonuses.
Rayfield said it was time for teachers to choose legislators who represent their interests, and with StRS, vouchers and cuts for educational financing, he called Ohio Governor Mike Dewine the worst governor of Education in the history of Ohio.
There is still the possibility that Dewine will apply his veto power with his line elements to cut the change, but Rayfield is not sanguine.
“Well, that won’t happen,” he said. “He was against the teacher. He is the worst educational governor of all time. He had … The educators brought the biggest step back under his leadership than all other governors.”
A Dewine spokesman said he was on his recording to support teachers and students, and he would examine every budget, including changes to STRS.
