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Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association

Fighting for Ohio's teachers since 1947!

ORTA advocates for the pensions and benefits of Ohio's active and retired educators; demands accountability from the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio; and lobbies Ohio's legislators to provide a strong and sustainable retirement system for all Ohio educators, Pre-K through higher education. We rely on membership dues to continue our work.

The "Midnight Massacre"

What is the Sustaining Donation Push?

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ORTA Update

Featured Post!

Letter to the editor: Why higher employer contributions help STRS

In today’s information economy, education is the key to Ohio’s future. Attracting and retaining the best and brightest to become teachers is in the interest of every Ohioan. This can only be accomplished if those who choose to become teachers know they can enjoy a dignified retirement. If other states can afford to have their employers pay their fair share of their teachers’ pensions, Ohio can too.

Rudy Fichtenbaum

1 day ago3 min read

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AMBA Webinar: Protecting your nest egg

Did you miss the August live webinar? Here's the recording of that webinar.

What makes up your nest egg?
Five biggest threats to your nest egg.
How you can protect your nest egg against those threats.
How to have peace of mind.
Make the most of your options.

Click on the button below to register for future free AMBA webinars.

AMBA Webinars

Pension Defense Fund Update

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ORTA is the only organization that fights full-time to make sure your pension is working responsibly for you.

Retiring without any inflation protection is a problem that must be remedied. We cannot fight this battle by ignoring attacks on our pension that require legal action. We need you to adequately fight these attacks by helping us fund our legal expenses. Specifically:

The expenses incurred by the improper removal of Wade Steen.
The ongoing expenses incurred by the “anonymous” letter sent by STRS staff to the Attorney General, which has resulted in significant legal expenses fighting unfounded charges against Wade Steen and Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum. The court trial date is scheduled for October 2025.
An additional concern that we need to address is the Midnight Massacre, which is an attempt by a handful of misguided legislators to reconfigure the representation of our pension board. For those who are unaware, at 1:30 in the morning, Representative Adam Bird, Chair of the Ohio Retirement Council (ORSC), slipped an amendment into Ohio’s annual budget bill. The amendment was to reconfigure our pension board by eliminating 4 democratically elected STRS board members and replacing them with an additional 4 appointed board members. Of note, some members of the Ohio Retirement Study Council claimed they were completely unaware of this clandestine power grab. It appears that nearly everyone who voted for the Ohio Annual Budget was unaware that this amendment was added to the 3,000-plus-page document.

Help ORTA help you!

ORTA’s is seeking 1,000 members who can contribute $10 per month to the Pension Defense Fund. In the past 18 months of legal attacks, ORTA has incurred nearly $300,000 in legal expenses. The good news is that members are stepping up.

Thank you to our members for your generous donations!

Dr. Robin Rayfield, Executive Director
Dean Dennis, Executive Council Chair

Donate to the Pension Defense Fund

Did you know?
Passport Unlimited savings are included in
your ORTA membership!

As a member of ORTA, you have access to exceptional savings through Passport Unlimited.
Passport offers savings at Sam's Club, Kohls, Apple, and hundreds of other retailers and services.
You'll receive email updates about new savings in dining, travel, and shopping.

Sign up for Passport Unlimited

Radical overhaul of the STRS Ohio Retirement Board

Despite a weekend-long email and telephone campaign from Ohio teachers and retirees, Gov. Mike DeWine let stand an overhaul of the State Teachers Retirement System Board.

"They built the pension through their hard work and their money, and they live off the pension and how well it does for the rest of their lives, so having them have a majority stake in that board makes sense." - David Pepper

ORTA_Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association

Letter to the editor: Why higher employer contributions help STRS

In today’s information economy, education is the key to Ohio’s future. Attracting and retaining the best and brightest to become teachers is in the interest of every Ohioan. This can only be accomplished if those who choose to become teachers know they can enjoy a dignified retirement. If other states can afford to have their employers pay their fair share of their teachers’ pensions, Ohio can too.

Rudy Fichtenbaum

1 day ago3 min read

Call to Action: Letter Writing Campaign

Write to your state lawmakers today to voice your opposition to this change. Tell them that you want to have a meaningful voice in the direction of your pension system. Tell them that you resent this attack on your voice as an educator in Ohio and demand that they take immediate steps to reverse this action.

ORTA

Aug 272 min read

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

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.

Robin Rayfield

Aug 222 min read

Call to Action: Email Campaign

Tell your state legislators, the Speaker of the House, and the Senate President that educators deserve meaningful elected representation on the STRS Board. Tell them to introduce and pass legislation to restore our voice on the STRS Board.

ORTA

Aug 202 min read

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