This Spring, STRS Ohio will hold an election for one contributing member seat on the State Teachers Retirement Board. This seat is currently held by Arthur Lard.
OFT is proud to announce that we have endorsed Pat Davidson. Pat is a member of Berea Federation of Teachers and a Business and Computer teacher with 22 years experience. Read below about Pat’s experience and his priorities for STRS. [Click here for information on how to vote!]
About Pat:
Pat is a Business and Computer teacher in the Berea City School District with 22 years of classroom experience. For the majority of his career, he has taught Personal Finance classes to high school students. Pat has developed an expertise on retirement issues by serving on the OFT Retirement Committee for the past seven years.
He is running for the STRS board because the STRS reforms in 2012 and 2017 have dramatically affected personal financial planning for active and retired members.
If elected to the STRS Board, Pat would continue to pursue constructive conversations that challenge STRS to address the needs of active members without risking the system's long-term stability. Pat would work toward advancing the following goals:
- Move the STRS plan design back to full benefits at 30 years, or as close to that as possible, as quickly as possible. Full benefits at 30 years at any age was the original promise made to anyone enrolled in STRS prior to 2012 and it should be honored, if at all possible. By putting STRS in a better fiscal position, we can work with the legislature to restore these benefits.
- Restore an annual COLA that will allow benefits to keep pace with inflation during retirement. When Social Security is granting a 8.7% COLA for 2023 it isn’t reasonable for STRS to not have a COLA at all. We must continue the trend that was reinstated last year and provide an annual COLA to retirees.
- Encourage STRS to increase transparency for members in all aspects of our pension system.
All STRS members should receive a ballot by mail in the first week of April. Keep an eye out for this ballot so you don't accidentally discard it. The image below is a picture of the ballot envelope from a previous year; we expect it to look similar this year.
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 Monday, April 10, or if you misplace or accidentally discard your ballot, you can still vote! Call 866-720-4357 to verify your information and vote, or send an email to: STRSOHHelp@electionservicescorp.com
