"I just want my COLA"
David Pepper did a podcast with Robin Rayfield, Executive Director of ORTA, to clarify all that’s been happening with STRS. All the chaos and rhetoric has a lot of people confused. Here are some quotes from their discussion:
“I have members—many thousands of members—whose retirement is maybe $30,000 a year. How are these people supposed to live on $30,000 a year?…So those losses of COLA are extremely painful.”
“We have people who had to go nine years without a COLA.”
“‘Tell me what the plan is. What’s the pathway back to COLA?’ Never, never, never did they respond….I asked that question a dozen times: What is the plan?”
Staff bonuses: “100% of salary. If you make $200,000, you get $200,000 in bonus. If you make $400,000, you get $400,000 in bonus…They’ve never not gotten the bonus…We had trouble understanding that.”
“[W]e’re getting hammered in this alternatives market. The private equity. The private capital. The hedge funds. Getting killed in fees.”
“I voted for Mike DeWine…But he has single-handedly done more to hurt public education in his terms as Governor than all the other Governors combined….He’s hell bent on getting rid of [] public education, and for that, I’m embarrassed that I voted for him.”
“What I want is my COLA. I want good return. I want every opportunity to make money to be fully vetted.”
“We hope that we’ll get transparency…Ohio politics needs to be cleaned up.”
STRS Ohio Board members Rudy Fichtenbaum and Wade Steen are incurring legal fees, defending themselves against the lawsuit brought against them by A.G. Dave Yost. ORTA will use donations from the Pension Defense Fund to help them, if needed, pay their legal expenses. They have volunteered their time to support Ohio's teachers. Now it's time for us to show our supporr for them! Make a donation today to the ORTA Pension Defense Fund
ORTA advocates for the pensions and benefits of Ohio's educators, demands accountability from STRS Ohio, and lobbies Ohio's legislators to provide a strong and sustainable retirement system. We rely on membership dues to continue our work. Join ORTA!