Three Ohio educators’ unions have filed a lawsuit against the state over a provision in the budget that would change the makeup of the retirement board, according to the Statehouse News Bureau.
The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, or STRS, oversees retirement funds and handles investment decisions for the pensions of public teachers and professors in Ohio. The board currently consists of five current educators, two retired educators who their peers elected and four representatives from the state government.
The proposed change would make eight of the board members appointees from elected officials and only three educators.
The Ohio Education Association, the Ohio Federation of Teachers and the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors, or AAUP, joined forces to sue the state over what they considered an “unconstitutional” effort to change the STRS board and deny Ohio teachers control over their retirement funds, the Statehouse News Bureau stated.
The teachers' unions were concerned about how this provision was added to the budget bill by the state legislature. Sara Kilpatrick, executive director of the Ohio AAUP, said the legislature added the STRS board changes late in the process without consulting any unions or teachers.
“At the 11th hour during the conference committee process with zero hearings, zero public input, the legislature decided we are going to overhaul the STRS board makeup,” Kilpatrick said.
With the new changes, the board would remove four educators' seats and replace them with four politically appointed board members, on top of the four government representatives already on the board.
The governor would appoint one member; the Speaker of the House and Senate President would each appoint one member and jointly appoint another; the State Treasurer would appoint two; the chancellor of the Department of Higher Education would appoint one; finally, the Director of Education would also have the authority to appoint a member. This would put the majority of the control of STRS in the hands of elected officials rather than Ohio educators.
Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, said the changes would mean the STRS board follows what the politicians who appointed them want rather than the teachers it represents.
“You have people who are making decisions about benefits who have not been teachers themselves and who are at the whim of the people who appointed them,” Cropper said. “If they don’t do exactly what the person who appointed them wants them to do, they could be removed.”
By having less input from teachers on their pension board, Kilpatrick is concerned this could drive teachers away from Ohio in the future.
“There won’t be much left in the state of Ohio to attract people to the profession of teaching,” Kilpatrick said. “One of the main benefits of becoming an educator in the state of Ohio is because you know you’re going to have a good pension when you retire.”
Southeast Ohio has already had to deal with teacher shortages. According to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, the Southeastern and Southwestern regions of Ohio have seen high student-to-teacher ratios in some subject areas.
Chad Springer, superintendent at Athens City School District, said he has been informed of the changes and hopes the system will continue to remain solvent.
“From what is being shared with me, the changes in the board will double the number of appointees from the state and reduce the number of teacher representatives by half,” Springer wrote in an email. “This has created a sense of distrust and lack of a voice for educators in the retirement system’s board.”
The STRS board has been under scrutiny from Gov. Mike DeWine for alleged misconduct after an apparent whistleblower caused the governor to launch an investigation into the board. DeWine stated May 8 that he was monitoring the situation after receiving “disturbing allegations” regarding the STRS board.
Kilpatrick said she was not concerned about issues in the STRS board and holds pride for the board.
“There have been disagreements within the system about various investment opportunities,” Kilpatrick said. “That has kind of gotten blown out of proportion and seen as the system is in chaos. The system is not in chaos. In fact, STRS is one of the most improved pension systems since pension reform was passed.”
The Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granted a temporary restraining order to prevent the STRS board changes from going into effect, but the order only extends until Wednesday.
