In the August 26 Pepperspective, David Pepper sketches the development of the Ohio common school system and shows then how some politicians have split state school funding into three broken systems.
The education legacy of the Ohio General Assemblies for the first quarter of the 21st century will be how they deconstructed the constitutionally required common school system. But then the legacy of the judiciary for the second quarter of the 21st century might be how the court restored education to the constitutional framework of the 1851 Ohio constitutional provision for the public common school.
Pepper’s piece is useful in evaluating the Ohio universal voucher scheme.
The Big Picture: How They Broke Education in Ohio
Turning a Top-Ranked System of Common Schools into Three Broken Systems
David Pepper
Aug 26, 2024
In 1825, Ohio was the first state in the nation to establish a system of local schools, funded by local property taxes. Then in 1850, Ohioans enshrined their priority of public education directly into the state’s Constitution:
“The General Assembly shall make such provisions, by taxation, or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state.”
(Art. VI, Section 2)
No doubt, one of the reasons Ohio emerged as a leading state in the nation overall came from this early and unique commitment to public education. And it was a system that served Ohio well for generations. Even as recently as 2010, Ohio had the 5th highest ranked system of public education in the nation.
And then something happened…
Politicians and a handful of their big donors (who would soon become even bigger donors), eyeing the substantial state and local dollars generated to fund this historic commitment, started treating those funds as their own piggy bank.
And what they did was take the single system of public education that was performing so well, and divert as much money out of it as they could—converting it into profits and political donations along the way.
This happened in two waves, which created TWO NEW SYSTEMS of schools (neither of which are “common”) beyond the clear mandate of “a” system of “common schools.”
System #2:
The first wave created a separate system of for-profit charter schools.
And quickly, these for-profit schools followed a consistent pattern: huge dollars diverted from public schools, far higher spending on administrative costs, chaotic/absent regulation and standards, major political contributions to the GOP, and poor outcomes for students.
Due to the overall lack of regulation of this new system, Ohio became known as the “Wild West” of charter schools — this was not a compliment. As a national charter supporter explained: “Ohio has a real quality control problem…Ohio's more broken than the Wild West."
Now, while these schools face less accountability and standards than public schools, they at least are required to go through public audits. Which is one reason one of these schools (ECOT — a for-profit, online “school”) exploded into one of the worst scandals in Ohio history. ECOT’s student population grew to the size of a university, led to disastrous academic outcomes for those students, and millions of dollars were diverted to pay for “phantom students”—the school couldn't even show attended their online classes.
So that is the second system of schools Ohio is now supporting. In 2022, the amount of public dollars sent to support this system reached $1 billion.
But things get even worse…
System #3:
The next wave of the attack on Ohio’s once vaunted system of common schools has led to a third system of schools—private schools funded by now-universal vouchers.
This system of voucher-supported private schools has received $5B since its inception. But with the elimination of any income and geographic restrictions in recent years, the spending has exploded of late—at almost $1 billion in spending in the last year alone.
This will no doubt eclipse the charter school system.
This third/voucher system involves two major directions:
First, most of the new spending is simply paying private school families to go to the same schools they’ve always gone to. (And for the most part, these are families in well-off suburbs who could already afford these schools).
[View picture online]
Second, to the extent there are a small percentage of voucher users moving from public schools to private schools, the data shows that they are using public dollars to go to worse schools.
A stunning 88% of the time families use vouchers to switch schools, those families send their children to schools with worse test scores than the public school they previously attended. And every year at that new private school, the average voucher user sees their score drop 12% PER YEAR versus performance back at their public school.
How could this be? Because the higher quality private schools (now receiving numerous vouchers for long-time students) are still too expensive for most families (the voucher doesn’t cover the high tuition of these schools). And that reality creates a financial incentive to open and operate pop-up, low-quality (often for-profit) schools—ones that the voucher alone can cover—which is where most of these kids end up. The vouchers are guaranteed revenue for businesses and organizations, but the schools they open are largely low-quality and wholly unregulated.
And one other factor adds to the problem: unlike even the charter schools, these voucher schools aren’t audited at all. Which means we have no idea how this entire system of schools is spending and will spend the billions they have received. All we know is that test scores are dropping when kids transfer over to them.
Finally, to show how serious the legislature is about standing up this third system of schools, for the first time, the statehouse recently began allocating capital funds to support building or renovating these private, voucher-receiving schools. That’s right — the state is now paying for both the construction and operation of these wholly unaudited and unaccountable private schools.
From One System to Three
So that’s the big picture: Ohio took one of the best performing systems of public education in America and turned it into THREE systems:
1) the $1B “wild-west” for-profit charter school system (with poor outcomes and not enough accountability)
2) the $1B and growing universal voucher system (with poor outcomes and no auditing whatsoever).
3) the remaining (and original) public system, which still educates the vast majority of Ohio students, and is being underfunded by close to $1B.
So—even as the Constitution says the Ohio General Assembly should support “a” system of “common schools”—the state of Ohio now shoulders the task of overseeing, funding and administering three systems rather than one. It has direct control over the public one, some transparency over the charters, and absolutely no clue about what happens with the exploding voucher system.
And now we know that with both the voucher and charter systems, our $1B of investment in each is generating poor outcomes. We are literally spending money to make things worse.
And we also know that due to all that money siphoned to these two failing and unaccountable systems, the public system is dramatically underfunded as well. Which of course also leads to struggles, as well as a higher burden on local property taxpayers because the state is underfunding public education in order to support the two failing systems.
[View picture online]
Add it all up and, no surprise, Ohio’s 5th ranked system of public education from not long ago has now plummeted into the mid-20s.
Because when you take one good system and break it into three broken systems, that’s what’s going to happen.
Why Does it Continue?
In any normal world or organization, the people who championed such a colossal failure would be fired. Results like this would spark an immediate change of direction, right?
But in a world with no accountability, where pay-to-play corruption is how you get ahead and serving public outcomes is no longer the goal, the architects of this disaster have actually been rewarded for the disaster.
That’s why Jon Husted, perhaps the most consistent architect of this catastrophe going back decades, has risen in spite of this abject failure. From statehouse member, to Speaker of the Ohio House, to State Senator, to Secretary of State, to now—the Lt. Gov. And he is the GOP darling to be the GOP’s Governor candidate.
[View Husted/ECOT pictures online]
Jon Husted receiving an honorary degree from ECOT — the scam school that bilked taxpayers while destroying the education of thousands of students; ECOT leaders explained that without Husted, ECOT would not have existed. They are correct!
In most of these positions, he played an instrumental role in creating both failed systems. But in the broken culture of Columbus, with the money they’ve siphoned off into these private systems, he’s actually been rewarded for all the damage he caused.
The only way we’ll end this is to clean up the corruption and pay-to-play culture in Ohio once and for all.
And we do that in part by showing that the greatest damage of Ohio’s corrupt culture is not our energy rates, or lost coins. It is the destruction of a system of public education that Ohioans have uniquely enjoyed since almost the founding of our state, that anchored Ohio’s growth and success for generations, and that was one of the nation’s finest as recently as 2010.
They sold off all of that for some short-term political gain and dollars.
And if you’re willing to sell education and Ohio’s kids to the highest bidder, you’ll sell anything.
Which they pretty much do.
Spread the word!! This is THE issue that could oust the GOP from power in Ohio.
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OhioEandA
VOUCHERS HURT OHIO
vouchershurtohio.com
Like Vouchers Hurt Ohio on Facebook: Vouchers Hurt Ohio
Pepper’s piece is useful in evaluating the Ohio universal voucher scheme.
The Big Picture: How They Broke Education in Ohio
Turning a Top-Ranked System of Common Schools into Three Broken Systems
David Pepper
Aug 26, 2024
In 1825, Ohio was the first state in the nation to establish a system of local schools, funded by local property taxes. Then in 1850, Ohioans enshrined their priority of public education directly into the state’s Constitution:
“The General Assembly shall make such provisions, by taxation, or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state.”
(Art. VI, Section 2)
No doubt, one of the reasons Ohio emerged as a leading state in the nation overall came from this early and unique commitment to public education. And it was a system that served Ohio well for generations. Even as recently as 2010, Ohio had the 5th highest ranked system of public education in the nation.
And then something happened…
Politicians and a handful of their big donors (who would soon become even bigger donors), eyeing the substantial state and local dollars generated to fund this historic commitment, started treating those funds as their own piggy bank.
And what they did was take the single system of public education that was performing so well, and divert as much money out of it as they could—converting it into profits and political donations along the way.
This happened in two waves, which created TWO NEW SYSTEMS of schools (neither of which are “common”) beyond the clear mandate of “a” system of “common schools.”
System #2:
The first wave created a separate system of for-profit charter schools.
And quickly, these for-profit schools followed a consistent pattern: huge dollars diverted from public schools, far higher spending on administrative costs, chaotic/absent regulation and standards, major political contributions to the GOP, and poor outcomes for students.
Due to the overall lack of regulation of this new system, Ohio became known as the “Wild West” of charter schools — this was not a compliment. As a national charter supporter explained: “Ohio has a real quality control problem…Ohio's more broken than the Wild West."
Now, while these schools face less accountability and standards than public schools, they at least are required to go through public audits. Which is one reason one of these schools (ECOT — a for-profit, online “school”) exploded into one of the worst scandals in Ohio history. ECOT’s student population grew to the size of a university, led to disastrous academic outcomes for those students, and millions of dollars were diverted to pay for “phantom students”—the school couldn't even show attended their online classes.
So that is the second system of schools Ohio is now supporting. In 2022, the amount of public dollars sent to support this system reached $1 billion.
But things get even worse…
System #3:
The next wave of the attack on Ohio’s once vaunted system of common schools has led to a third system of schools—private schools funded by now-universal vouchers.
This system of voucher-supported private schools has received $5B since its inception. But with the elimination of any income and geographic restrictions in recent years, the spending has exploded of late—at almost $1 billion in spending in the last year alone.
This will no doubt eclipse the charter school system.
This third/voucher system involves two major directions:
First, most of the new spending is simply paying private school families to go to the same schools they’ve always gone to. (And for the most part, these are families in well-off suburbs who could already afford these schools).
[View picture online]
Second, to the extent there are a small percentage of voucher users moving from public schools to private schools, the data shows that they are using public dollars to go to worse schools.
A stunning 88% of the time families use vouchers to switch schools, those families send their children to schools with worse test scores than the public school they previously attended. And every year at that new private school, the average voucher user sees their score drop 12% PER YEAR versus performance back at their public school.
How could this be? Because the higher quality private schools (now receiving numerous vouchers for long-time students) are still too expensive for most families (the voucher doesn’t cover the high tuition of these schools). And that reality creates a financial incentive to open and operate pop-up, low-quality (often for-profit) schools—ones that the voucher alone can cover—which is where most of these kids end up. The vouchers are guaranteed revenue for businesses and organizations, but the schools they open are largely low-quality and wholly unregulated.
And one other factor adds to the problem: unlike even the charter schools, these voucher schools aren’t audited at all. Which means we have no idea how this entire system of schools is spending and will spend the billions they have received. All we know is that test scores are dropping when kids transfer over to them.
Finally, to show how serious the legislature is about standing up this third system of schools, for the first time, the statehouse recently began allocating capital funds to support building or renovating these private, voucher-receiving schools. That’s right — the state is now paying for both the construction and operation of these wholly unaudited and unaccountable private schools.
From One System to Three
So that’s the big picture: Ohio took one of the best performing systems of public education in America and turned it into THREE systems:
1) the $1B “wild-west” for-profit charter school system (with poor outcomes and not enough accountability)
2) the $1B and growing universal voucher system (with poor outcomes and no auditing whatsoever).
3) the remaining (and original) public system, which still educates the vast majority of Ohio students, and is being underfunded by close to $1B.
So—even as the Constitution says the Ohio General Assembly should support “a” system of “common schools”—the state of Ohio now shoulders the task of overseeing, funding and administering three systems rather than one. It has direct control over the public one, some transparency over the charters, and absolutely no clue about what happens with the exploding voucher system.
And now we know that with both the voucher and charter systems, our $1B of investment in each is generating poor outcomes. We are literally spending money to make things worse.
And we also know that due to all that money siphoned to these two failing and unaccountable systems, the public system is dramatically underfunded as well. Which of course also leads to struggles, as well as a higher burden on local property taxpayers because the state is underfunding public education in order to support the two failing systems.
[View picture online]
Add it all up and, no surprise, Ohio’s 5th ranked system of public education from not long ago has now plummeted into the mid-20s.
Because when you take one good system and break it into three broken systems, that’s what’s going to happen.
Why Does it Continue?
In any normal world or organization, the people who championed such a colossal failure would be fired. Results like this would spark an immediate change of direction, right?
But in a world with no accountability, where pay-to-play corruption is how you get ahead and serving public outcomes is no longer the goal, the architects of this disaster have actually been rewarded for the disaster.
That’s why Jon Husted, perhaps the most consistent architect of this catastrophe going back decades, has risen in spite of this abject failure. From statehouse member, to Speaker of the Ohio House, to State Senator, to Secretary of State, to now—the Lt. Gov. And he is the GOP darling to be the GOP’s Governor candidate.
[View Husted/ECOT pictures online]
Jon Husted receiving an honorary degree from ECOT — the scam school that bilked taxpayers while destroying the education of thousands of students; ECOT leaders explained that without Husted, ECOT would not have existed. They are correct!
In most of these positions, he played an instrumental role in creating both failed systems. But in the broken culture of Columbus, with the money they’ve siphoned off into these private systems, he’s actually been rewarded for all the damage he caused.
The only way we’ll end this is to clean up the corruption and pay-to-play culture in Ohio once and for all.
And we do that in part by showing that the greatest damage of Ohio’s corrupt culture is not our energy rates, or lost coins. It is the destruction of a system of public education that Ohioans have uniquely enjoyed since almost the founding of our state, that anchored Ohio’s growth and success for generations, and that was one of the nation’s finest as recently as 2010.
They sold off all of that for some short-term political gain and dollars.
And if you’re willing to sell education and Ohio’s kids to the highest bidder, you’ll sell anything.
Which they pretty much do.
Spread the word!! This is THE issue that could oust the GOP from power in Ohio.
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OhioEandA
VOUCHERS HURT OHIO
vouchershurtohio.com
Like Vouchers Hurt Ohio on Facebook: Vouchers Hurt Ohio
Take a look at one of TFT's Summertime Community Events: The East Toledo Family Center Storybook Festival
TFT outreach members have been volunteering at this event for the past 8 years and TFT has always invested in it with a monetary sponsorship in order to support literacy and the ETFC ‘s work in our community.
We (teachers) collected over 300 books for the event, purchased PBS Arthur and his friends stuffed dolls and PBS Berenstain Bears for reading buddies for the kids. We made a basket full of fun summer activities (chalk, bubbles, set of all the reading buddy characters, coloring books, paint, crayons, colored pencils, abc, sight word, math flashcards, books, games) to be raffled off from TFT. You can see the family who won our basket in one of the photos below. They were super excited!
We (teachers) collected over 300 books for the event, purchased PBS Arthur and his friends stuffed dolls and PBS Berenstain Bears for reading buddies for the kids. We made a basket full of fun summer activities (chalk, bubbles, set of all the reading buddy characters, coloring books, paint, crayons, colored pencils, abc, sight word, math flashcards, books, games) to be raffled off from TFT. You can see the family who won our basket in one of the photos below. They were super excited!
Photos and Fun from the 2024 TFT Golf Outing
Special thanks to Laurie P and Laurie Z for snapping all of these wonderful photos!
The 2024 OFT Union Leadership Institute at Mohican State Park Lodge!
Congratulations to our April 2024 Teacher and Para of the Month!
Stay tuned for our 2024/2025 SY Teachers and Paras of the Month!
TFT activists wear blue to show support for the Paraprofessional Bill of Rights, emphasizing the need for living wages, safe working conditions, respect and dignity, real solutions for staff shortages, and much more.
Check out all of the photos from the recent TFT promotional campaign!
STRS Update from Melissa Cropper - June/July
Dear TFT,
It has been another eventful month for STRS Ohio, with news on staff bonuses (a.k.a. Performance-Based Incentives or PBI), a resignation from the STRS Board, and ongoing legal cases related to the fund and to the Board. Before we recap the news though, I want to recap OFT’s current assessment of the state of STRS, the Board, and what it’s going to take to put STRS in a position to restore benefits for active and retired members.
Our position on STRSFirst and most important, STRS is in a stable position as a fund and despite the drama or publicity, STRS members should not be worried about catastrophic changes that would harm the fund’s viability. There is a difference though between the fund being stable and being healthy.
STRS members deserve to have an expectation that STRS staff and the STRS Board are working hard to improve the position of the fund so that benefits — an annual COLA for retirees and full retirement at 30 years of service for active members — can be fully restored. But for years, leadership at STRS and on the Board pretended that stable was good enough and that they didn’t have to do more than pay lip service to the goal of fully restoring benefits. The anger among STRS members, myself included, was never primarily about the fact that STRS wasn’t performing well enough to restore benefits. Rather, the anger came from STRS leadership seemingly not even trying to perform better and to restore benefits, even as all the other public pension funds in Ohio were able to return to an annual COLA for retirees.
This anger boiled over into the STRS Board elections in recent years, where OFT members and other OFT-back candidates were able to win a majority on the Board and start making positive improvements on member benefits, accountability, and transparency. (I’ve listed these improvements in previous emails and have pasted that list at the end of this email for your reference.) I’m proud of the direction that the STRS Board is moving in due to OFT’s involvement. We still have a lot to do to reach our goal of restoring benefits, but we are inarguably in a better position than we were just a couple years ago.
Second, continued improvements at STRS will only come with structural changes to the investments that STRS makes. The two specific changes that our Board members have championed are: piloting a plan for indexing STRS’s investments so that returns more closely track with the performance of the market, and reducing STRS’s reliance on private equity investments which come with huge investment fees and limited transparency. Governor DeWine’s office has stated that they are not opposed to STRS investing in an index fund. His Press Secretary Dan Tierney said, “The governor doesn’t necessarily care if they continue the current investment strategy or if they change to an index fund. What he’s concerned about is that the funds be placed in trust with vendors or investments that are financially sound and meet the fiduciary duty that the board has.”
While we agree that it is also important to review all of STRS’s costs and to make cuts everywhere we can, we also know that the costs savings from things like the operation costs of the STRS building and STRS employee bonuses and benefits are barely a drop in the bucket compared to the funds needed to restore member benefits. We support commonsense cost savings because that is prudent, but drastic reductions in staff and operational costs could have potential adverse effects, while still leaving us far short of what we need.
Finally, we should not assume good faith when we see politicians, like Attorney General Dave Yost, attack STRS or STRS Board members. These same politicians have spent decades attacking public employees, public pensions, and teachers. We should take what they say seriously but they have not earned the benefit of the doubt from us.
STRS News June/July 2024STRS Board Turnover
Two members of the STRS Board, Dale Price and Steven Foreman, have resigned because they are retiring but had been elected to Contributing Member seats on the Board. The process for replacing these Board members is detailed here, however since Dale Price’s term ends in August, the Board may decide to hold the seat open until it is filled by Michelle Flanigan on September 1.
STRS June Board Meeting
At STRS’s June meeting, the Board voted not to approve STRS staff bonuses as detailed in the Performance-Based Incentive (PBI) Program for fiscal year 2025. PBI will be discussed again in a special Board meeting in July.
OFT supports changes to the PBI policy. An amended policy should put real goals in place and should place strict limits on bonuses in years when those goals weren’t met or when a COLA wasn’t received by retiree members.
You can read other updates from the STRS June meeting here.
OCAAUP and OFT Support STRS Board Chair Fichtenbaum Against Baseless Allegations
If you missed it, we released this press statement in late May along with our AFT union siblings at Ohio Conference AAUP.
Sara Kilpatrick, Executive Director of the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors (OCAAUP), and Melissa Cropper, President of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, released the following statement in response to baseless, politically-motivated accusations against Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum, an STRS Board member since 2021:
“On Wednesday, May 15, the Ohio Attorney General filed a frivolous lawsuit claiming that STRS Board Member Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum breached his fiduciary duties and therefore must be removed from his position on the Retirement Board. The lawsuit arrived on the heels of anonymous, spurious allegations made against Dr. Fichtenbaum, which he thoroughly rebutted in a public statement.
We are dismayed that the turmoil at STRS has escalated to a level at which public money is now being misused to remove a board member, one who has an unequivocal track record of fighting for quality pensions for STRS members. Dr. Fichtenbaum has enjoyed tremendous support from STRS members, which is why on the same day that this lawsuit was filed, his peers elected him as the new Chair of the Retirement Board.
Dr. Fichtenbaum, an emeritus economics professor and long-time AAUP member – including service as president of the national AAUP and Ohio Conference AAUP – is a person of integrity who has faithfully served in every position to which he has been elected. The baseless claims that have been made amount to slander. Any real investigation would reveal the frivolity of this lawsuit. We fully support Dr. Fichtenbaum and hope that STRS can get back to the business of serving its members.”Share This Update and Reach Out to Us with Any QuestionsI know there is a lot of information that floats around about STRS. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have questions about anything related to STRS. You can reach us at info@oft-aft.org.
We know that not all OFT members receive or read our emails, so please also share this update with your co-workers or any other OFT STRS members. OFT members who are not receiving all of our emails should contact us at info@oft-aft.org and identify which OFT local they are an active or retired member of. We will then make sure they are added to the correct email list.
Here is that list I mentioned earlier. All of these improvements have been spearheaded by OFT-endorsed Board members:
Melissa Cropper, President
Ohio Federation of Teachers
It has been another eventful month for STRS Ohio, with news on staff bonuses (a.k.a. Performance-Based Incentives or PBI), a resignation from the STRS Board, and ongoing legal cases related to the fund and to the Board. Before we recap the news though, I want to recap OFT’s current assessment of the state of STRS, the Board, and what it’s going to take to put STRS in a position to restore benefits for active and retired members.
Our position on STRSFirst and most important, STRS is in a stable position as a fund and despite the drama or publicity, STRS members should not be worried about catastrophic changes that would harm the fund’s viability. There is a difference though between the fund being stable and being healthy.
STRS members deserve to have an expectation that STRS staff and the STRS Board are working hard to improve the position of the fund so that benefits — an annual COLA for retirees and full retirement at 30 years of service for active members — can be fully restored. But for years, leadership at STRS and on the Board pretended that stable was good enough and that they didn’t have to do more than pay lip service to the goal of fully restoring benefits. The anger among STRS members, myself included, was never primarily about the fact that STRS wasn’t performing well enough to restore benefits. Rather, the anger came from STRS leadership seemingly not even trying to perform better and to restore benefits, even as all the other public pension funds in Ohio were able to return to an annual COLA for retirees.
This anger boiled over into the STRS Board elections in recent years, where OFT members and other OFT-back candidates were able to win a majority on the Board and start making positive improvements on member benefits, accountability, and transparency. (I’ve listed these improvements in previous emails and have pasted that list at the end of this email for your reference.) I’m proud of the direction that the STRS Board is moving in due to OFT’s involvement. We still have a lot to do to reach our goal of restoring benefits, but we are inarguably in a better position than we were just a couple years ago.
Second, continued improvements at STRS will only come with structural changes to the investments that STRS makes. The two specific changes that our Board members have championed are: piloting a plan for indexing STRS’s investments so that returns more closely track with the performance of the market, and reducing STRS’s reliance on private equity investments which come with huge investment fees and limited transparency. Governor DeWine’s office has stated that they are not opposed to STRS investing in an index fund. His Press Secretary Dan Tierney said, “The governor doesn’t necessarily care if they continue the current investment strategy or if they change to an index fund. What he’s concerned about is that the funds be placed in trust with vendors or investments that are financially sound and meet the fiduciary duty that the board has.”
While we agree that it is also important to review all of STRS’s costs and to make cuts everywhere we can, we also know that the costs savings from things like the operation costs of the STRS building and STRS employee bonuses and benefits are barely a drop in the bucket compared to the funds needed to restore member benefits. We support commonsense cost savings because that is prudent, but drastic reductions in staff and operational costs could have potential adverse effects, while still leaving us far short of what we need.
Finally, we should not assume good faith when we see politicians, like Attorney General Dave Yost, attack STRS or STRS Board members. These same politicians have spent decades attacking public employees, public pensions, and teachers. We should take what they say seriously but they have not earned the benefit of the doubt from us.
STRS News June/July 2024STRS Board Turnover
Two members of the STRS Board, Dale Price and Steven Foreman, have resigned because they are retiring but had been elected to Contributing Member seats on the Board. The process for replacing these Board members is detailed here, however since Dale Price’s term ends in August, the Board may decide to hold the seat open until it is filled by Michelle Flanigan on September 1.
STRS June Board Meeting
At STRS’s June meeting, the Board voted not to approve STRS staff bonuses as detailed in the Performance-Based Incentive (PBI) Program for fiscal year 2025. PBI will be discussed again in a special Board meeting in July.
OFT supports changes to the PBI policy. An amended policy should put real goals in place and should place strict limits on bonuses in years when those goals weren’t met or when a COLA wasn’t received by retiree members.
You can read other updates from the STRS June meeting here.
OCAAUP and OFT Support STRS Board Chair Fichtenbaum Against Baseless Allegations
If you missed it, we released this press statement in late May along with our AFT union siblings at Ohio Conference AAUP.
Sara Kilpatrick, Executive Director of the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors (OCAAUP), and Melissa Cropper, President of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, released the following statement in response to baseless, politically-motivated accusations against Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum, an STRS Board member since 2021:
“On Wednesday, May 15, the Ohio Attorney General filed a frivolous lawsuit claiming that STRS Board Member Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum breached his fiduciary duties and therefore must be removed from his position on the Retirement Board. The lawsuit arrived on the heels of anonymous, spurious allegations made against Dr. Fichtenbaum, which he thoroughly rebutted in a public statement.
We are dismayed that the turmoil at STRS has escalated to a level at which public money is now being misused to remove a board member, one who has an unequivocal track record of fighting for quality pensions for STRS members. Dr. Fichtenbaum has enjoyed tremendous support from STRS members, which is why on the same day that this lawsuit was filed, his peers elected him as the new Chair of the Retirement Board.
Dr. Fichtenbaum, an emeritus economics professor and long-time AAUP member – including service as president of the national AAUP and Ohio Conference AAUP – is a person of integrity who has faithfully served in every position to which he has been elected. The baseless claims that have been made amount to slander. Any real investigation would reveal the frivolity of this lawsuit. We fully support Dr. Fichtenbaum and hope that STRS can get back to the business of serving its members.”Share This Update and Reach Out to Us with Any QuestionsI know there is a lot of information that floats around about STRS. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have questions about anything related to STRS. You can reach us at info@oft-aft.org.
We know that not all OFT members receive or read our emails, so please also share this update with your co-workers or any other OFT STRS members. OFT members who are not receiving all of our emails should contact us at info@oft-aft.org and identify which OFT local they are an active or retired member of. We will then make sure they are added to the correct email list.
Here is that list I mentioned earlier. All of these improvements have been spearheaded by OFT-endorsed Board members:
- Increased transparency. Meetings are now video recorded and materials are available online prior to the board meeting.
- Reduced the 35 years requirement for a full pension to 34 years for a full retirement. (OFT and our allied board members will continue to fight to lower this requirement.)
- Provided a benefit enhancement for retirees. After 10 years without a cost of living adjustment, eligible retirees received a three percent enhancement in 2022 and a one percent enhancement in 2023.
- Provided a healthcare enhancement for pre-Medicare retirees.
- Changed the Performance-Based Incentive (PBI) Program, which determines how bonuses are awarded.
- Improved disclosure of fees and board governance by hiring a parliamentarian, a governance consultant to implement recommendations from the 2022 Fiduciary Performance Audit, and a new consulting firm to outline STRS fees.
Melissa Cropper, President
Ohio Federation of Teachers
Local author helps students process real life challenges through books
|
Students gathered inside Catherine Hernandez’s fourth-grade classroom at Marshall STEMM Academy in South Toledo on Friday afternoon to listen to local author Virginia Ulch’s children’s book Bullyfish.
“Her books resonate with students in the classroom,” Ms. Hernandez said, “and helps them resonate in positive ways when confronted with problems in the classroom.” |
Teaching the Short 'u' Sound: Ms. Olrich
In a phonics lesson focusing on the short ‘u’ sound kindergarten teacher Fadia Olrich of Riverside Elementary School, in Toledo, Ohio, starts with phonemic awareness, moves to letters, and ends with reading words, which helps children develop the skills they need to become strong readers. Throughout the lesson, she uses various strategies, including the Roller Coaster strategy and giving students mirrors to see their mouths.
STRS Update and Election Deadline
Dear TFT,
Recent events on the STRS Board have shown how important it is to have board members who consistently prioritize member benefits, accountability, and transparency. Read our updates below on this year’s STRS election, the reinstatement of board member Wade Steen, and a summary of positive changes that have been spearheaded by board members who we have helped elect, including three OFT members and one AAUP Ohio member.
STRS Election
This year’s election for the Contributing Member seat on the STRS Board is wrapping up and you have just a few more days to cast your vote! Voting ends at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 6. Please cast your vote by phone or online as soon as possible.
OFT has endorsed Michelle Flanigan, an experienced teacher and retirement advocate who is committed to prioritizing restoration of member benefits. You can read more about Michelle here.
If you have not received or misplaced your ballot, you can still vote. Email the Election Services help desk at STRSOHHelp@electionservicescorp.com or call 866-276-1506. Share this information with your colleagues or other STRS contributing members!
Reinstatement of Wade Steen
On April 18, Ohio’s 10th District Court of Appeals ruled that Governor DeWine overstepped his authority when he removed investment expert Wade Steen from the STRS Board. The court order reinstated Steen to the board. DeWine had removed Steen shortly after Berea Federation of Teachers member Pat Davidson won a seat on the Board to try to avert a majority made up of reform-minded members.
At the same time, the STRS Board was holding their April meeting. Steen delivered the court order to the Board meeting and asked to be reinstated. After a 90 minute executive session, Steen was seated on the Board and asked to be sworn in. This was initially denied, and then approved by a 6-4 vote of the Board. Shortly after Steen was sworn in, the meeting was abruptly adjourned, without a vote for adjournment.
We are concerned about how the meeting ended, but we are optimistic about changes that can be made in the coming months with the new majority for reform. Wade Steen’s term is up in September of this year, so we must elect Michelle Flanigan to retain this majority.
A Track Record of Success
In recent years, OFT and our locals across the state have devoted time, energy, and funds toward addressing systematic shortcomings on the STRS Board. We donated to the independent financial audit of STRS in 2020, we recruited OFT members to run for STRS Board seats, and we’ve helped elect those members and other educators who share a reform agenda for STRS.
Our endorsed board members, along with strong grassroots energy, has led to a string of wins — even without a board majority of reformers. We can build on these successes for years to come as long as we stay engaged and continue to elect Board members who will put STRS members first.
Highlights:
In Solidarity,
Darold Johnson, Legislative and Political Director
Ohio Federation of Teachers
Recent events on the STRS Board have shown how important it is to have board members who consistently prioritize member benefits, accountability, and transparency. Read our updates below on this year’s STRS election, the reinstatement of board member Wade Steen, and a summary of positive changes that have been spearheaded by board members who we have helped elect, including three OFT members and one AAUP Ohio member.
STRS Election
This year’s election for the Contributing Member seat on the STRS Board is wrapping up and you have just a few more days to cast your vote! Voting ends at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 6. Please cast your vote by phone or online as soon as possible.
OFT has endorsed Michelle Flanigan, an experienced teacher and retirement advocate who is committed to prioritizing restoration of member benefits. You can read more about Michelle here.
If you have not received or misplaced your ballot, you can still vote. Email the Election Services help desk at STRSOHHelp@electionservicescorp.com or call 866-276-1506. Share this information with your colleagues or other STRS contributing members!
Reinstatement of Wade Steen
On April 18, Ohio’s 10th District Court of Appeals ruled that Governor DeWine overstepped his authority when he removed investment expert Wade Steen from the STRS Board. The court order reinstated Steen to the board. DeWine had removed Steen shortly after Berea Federation of Teachers member Pat Davidson won a seat on the Board to try to avert a majority made up of reform-minded members.
At the same time, the STRS Board was holding their April meeting. Steen delivered the court order to the Board meeting and asked to be reinstated. After a 90 minute executive session, Steen was seated on the Board and asked to be sworn in. This was initially denied, and then approved by a 6-4 vote of the Board. Shortly after Steen was sworn in, the meeting was abruptly adjourned, without a vote for adjournment.
We are concerned about how the meeting ended, but we are optimistic about changes that can be made in the coming months with the new majority for reform. Wade Steen’s term is up in September of this year, so we must elect Michelle Flanigan to retain this majority.
A Track Record of Success
In recent years, OFT and our locals across the state have devoted time, energy, and funds toward addressing systematic shortcomings on the STRS Board. We donated to the independent financial audit of STRS in 2020, we recruited OFT members to run for STRS Board seats, and we’ve helped elect those members and other educators who share a reform agenda for STRS.
Our endorsed board members, along with strong grassroots energy, has led to a string of wins — even without a board majority of reformers. We can build on these successes for years to come as long as we stay engaged and continue to elect Board members who will put STRS members first.
Highlights:
- Increased transparency. Meetings are now video recorded and materials are available online prior to the board meeting. OFT and AAUP members on the Board — Julie Sellers, Liz Jones, Rudy Fichtenbaum, and Pat Davidson — submitted this resolution.
- Reduced the 35 years requirement for a full pension to 34 years for a full retirement. (OFT and our allied board members will continue to fight to lower this requirement.)
- Provided a benefit enhancement for retirees. After 10 years without a cost of living adjustment, eligible retirees received a three percent enhancement in 2022 and a one percent enhancement in 2023.
- Provided a healthcare enhancement for pre-Medicare retirees.
- Changed the Performance-Based Incentive (PBI) Program, which determines how bonuses are awarded. Changes include: removing more than 30 positions from the PBI Program; reducing the maximum incentive possible; and adjustments when the pension fund has a negative absolute return and in any year where the board’s actuary determines there is not sufficient funding to enhance member benefits.
- Improved disclosure of fees and board governance by hiring a parliamentarian, a governance consultant to implement recommendations from the 2022 Fiduciary Performance Audit, and a new consulting firm to outline STRS fees.
In Solidarity,
Darold Johnson, Legislative and Political Director
Ohio Federation of Teachers
Michelle Flanigan for STRS Ohio Board - Reform Candidate for STRS Ohio Retirement Board
|
OFT is proud to endorse Michelle Flanigan for this year’s election to the STRS Board. (Michelle is running for the seat that is currently held by Dale Price, who is not running for re-election).
Ballots have been mailed from STRS. Please keep an eye out for this ballot so you don’t accidentally discard it. You can return it by mail (postage is prepaid) or you can also vote by phone or online. If you don’t receive a ballot by Wednesday, April 10, or if you misplace or accidentally discard your ballot, you can still vote! Email the Election Services help desk at STRSOHHelp@electionservicescorp.com or call 866-276-1506. *Share this information with your colleagues or other STRS contributing members!* |
TFT: The Most Restrictive in Ohio? |
|
2.21.2024
The Fordham Institute recently published an article ranking the Collective Bargaining Agreements of all Ohio schools based on their oppression and restrictiveness. Proudly, your TFT Contract was ranked #1 in this research. The rankings were based on the number of times that the terms "shall" or "will" were used. These terms are contained 2,836 times in the teacher contract, with a grand total of 6,848 times across all contracts within the bargaining units. It was stated that each used of these terms in a contact could be interpreted as a means of restricting managerial decision making. The article goes on to say that, "binding the hands of public-school leaders in this way undermines their ability to meet the varied and evolving needs of students". TFT believes that its members know what is best for students and work each day to provide a quality education. Each of you should be proud of the contract that TFT members past and present have fought so hard to create and enforce. All of those "shalls" and "wills" have worked to solidify the working conditions of TFT members as well as the learning conditions of their students.
To read this article, click here: Which Ohio districts are most burdened by oppressive union contracts?
The Fordham Institute recently published an article ranking the Collective Bargaining Agreements of all Ohio schools based on their oppression and restrictiveness. Proudly, your TFT Contract was ranked #1 in this research. The rankings were based on the number of times that the terms "shall" or "will" were used. These terms are contained 2,836 times in the teacher contract, with a grand total of 6,848 times across all contracts within the bargaining units. It was stated that each used of these terms in a contact could be interpreted as a means of restricting managerial decision making. The article goes on to say that, "binding the hands of public-school leaders in this way undermines their ability to meet the varied and evolving needs of students". TFT believes that its members know what is best for students and work each day to provide a quality education. Each of you should be proud of the contract that TFT members past and present have fought so hard to create and enforce. All of those "shalls" and "wills" have worked to solidify the working conditions of TFT members as well as the learning conditions of their students.
To read this article, click here: Which Ohio districts are most burdened by oppressive union contracts?
