Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has expressed concern about potential corruption at the State Teachers Retirement System, but told a Cleveland television station the board has overcome “that problem that we’ve had in the past.”
Concerns about STRS, a pension fund for Ohio’s more than 500,000 active and retired public educators, emerged after the governor received a 14-page memo from an anonymous whistleblower in May 2024.
According to reports, the document alleged that a scandal was emerging within the teacher retirement system.
“It’s very important we have state systems, and this is the teachers’ retirement fund, and we certainly want that to be a sound fund,” News 5 Cleveland quoted DeWine in a new interview. “That’s always, always something that’s a concern, and retired teachers have been concerned about not getting cost of living allowances in the past.
“The stability of a retirement fund, I think, is very important,” the Republican governor added, according to the report. “It’s not just the stability from an economic point, this is an area where stability and less drama is good.”
According to News 5 Cleveland, board chair Rudy Fichtenbaum, a member since 2021 whose current term extends through Aug. 31, and former board member Wade Steen, are the focus of attention. The concern focuses on their relationship with QED Technologies, an investment firm that former Ohio Deputy Treasurer Seth Metcalf runs with J.D. Tremmel.
“Well, I think things have calmed down,” News 5 Cleveland quoted DeWine as saying. “I’m looking at it from afar, but it seems that the board is working, and working in a productive way. I think we’ve, at least for a while now, we’ve come over from that problem that we’ve had in the past.”
Former Gov. John Kasich initially appointed Steen to the post, and DeWine reappointed him. DeWine asked Steen to resign in 2023 and removed him after Steen refused to step down.
Steen returned to the board last year after a court found that Ohio law did not give the governor the authority to remove Steen. His term expired in September 2024.
However, Steen told the Cleveland television station that the relationship with the investment firm was not inappropriate.
“The question I would have is, if you read the letter, the anonymous letter, from 2021 on, information had been provided by STRS staff to the attorney general,” News 5 Cleveland quoted Steen as saying. “So for more than three years, they’ve been getting all kinds of information. Nothing in the letter is new, and yet here we sit a year after the attorney general made allegations and brought charges, and there’s nothing — because there is nothing, there’s no merit to it.
“It’s almost weaponization,” Steen added. “...But clearly, if there was something, I would think in three years you would have some evidence. They clearly have none other than ‘He spoke to this person.’ OK, well, I spoke to a lot of people.’”
In May 2024, Attorney General Dave Yost, who is running for governor next year, filed a lawsuit in the Ohio Court of Common Pleas in Columbus to jettison Steen and Fichtenbaum from the board. Yost alleged the board members participated in a “scheme” to steer contracts that could benefit them.
STRS is separately involved in a securities class-action lawsuit alleging that Target misled investors about the financial risks of initiatives promoting the company’s social agenda. Earlier this month, Yost said he is seeking lead-plaintiff status on behalf of STRS in the case.
“This case isn’t a debate over differing ideologies – it’s about a company’s duty to give investors an honest assessment of risk and reward,” Yost said in a statement. “Target knew about significant risks but kept the information hidden from investors, and that puts the company on the hook for these losses.”
