Ohio lawmakers are considering changes to the state’s Teachers Retirement System, and teachers and retired educators may no longer have a place on its board.
According to WCMH-TV, retirees have claimed they haven’t received the promised cost-of-living increases. At the same time, they allege investment staff take home bonuses despite losing billions.
“Everybody gets rich at STRS, our consultants get rich. Our investors get rich, our STRS management get rich,” WCMH-TV quoted Robin Rayfield, CEO of the Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association, as saying. “The only people who don’t get rich are the people who put the money in, and that is the teachers.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has expressed concern about potential corruption at the State Teachers Retirement System, but previously told a Cleveland television station the board has overcome “that problem that we’ve had in the past.”
A legislative subcommittee is reviewing pension boards nationwide. According to reports, lawmakers could change who sits on the 11-member board, potentially forcing retirees and teachers off the board.
“So we have teachers that are, you know, trying to live on 40, $50,000 I mean, they have roofs on their house that need to be replaced,” WCMH-TV quoted Dean Dennis, part of a retiree watchdog group, as saying. “They need to buy cars. I mean, how do you have an investment like that?”
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.
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 centers on their relationship with QED Technologies, an investment firm co-founded by former Ohio Deputy Treasurer Seth Metcalf and J.D. Tremmel.
However, Metcalf told The Columbus Dispatch that STRS did not perform due diligence on QED. He said it didn’t stop pension managers from making false claims to discredit the company.
“Ohio really needs transparency, increased oversight and full accountability right now,” The Columbus Dispatch recently quoted Metcalf. Metcalf previously served as the deputy treasurer under former Republican Treasurer of State Josh Mandel.
In May 2024, Attorney General Dave Yost 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.
Ohio public employees can participate in different pension programs. The programs include the State Teachers Retirement System for public school system teachers in the Buckeye State, the School Employees Retirement System for public school employees who aren’t teachers, and the Public Employees Retirement System for public employees paid in any part by the state.
In prepared testimony to the Ohio Senate Finance Committee, Gordon Gatien, director of external relations for the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, said provisions within Substitute House Bill 96, Ohio’s proposed biennial budget, “would negatively impact Ohio’s public retirement systems, two of which pertain to the on-going independence of the systems, while the third attempts to address the unintended consequences associated with exclusion of certain public employees from membership in OPERS.”
“The long-term success of the Ohio Retirement Systems (ORS or Systems) is due, in large part, to their independence and requirement to act in the best interests of their members,” Gatien said in prepared testimony. “Maintaining that independence should be of the utmost importance, as it allows for distinct lines of governance and responsibility.”
