FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 23, 2026
Contact: Neil Bhaerman, nbhaerman@oft-aft.org
STRS Announces Benefit Changes and Election Results
COLUMBUS — Ohio’s State Teachers Retirement System announced on Friday, March 20 that the STRS Board approved a new cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for retirees and a five year extension of the current years of service requirement for active members. STRS also announced that Julie Sellers and Elizabeth Jones submitted enough valid signatures to qualify for this year’s STRS election. Sellers qualified for the contributing member seat and Jones qualified for the retired member seat. Since no other candidates qualified for the ballot, Jones and Sellers will retain their seats without an election.
OFT President Melissa Cropper released the following statement:
“We are glad to see that the STRS Board has approved another cost-of-living adjustment for retirees and has extended the current years of service requirement for active members until 2035, allowing educators to retire with full benefits at any age after 32 years of service; or at age 65 after five years of service.
This is a continuation of the progress that the Board has made in recent years, not just to improve member benefits but to also steadily increase transparency and accountability at STRS.
This progress would not have happened without the hard work and leadership of Julie Sellers and Liz Jones. They are dedicated to strengthening the system and restoring member benefits. That’s why Ohio educators across the state submitted the petition signatures that will allow them to retain their seats on the Board.
STRS members deserve the same rights that members of Ohio’s other public pensions have, including having a retirement board controlled by elected members of the pension plan. The state legislature tried to take this away from us last year and install a board majority of political appointees, but a lawsuit filed by OFT, OEA, and AAUP members has prevented the changes from going into effect.
Julie and Liz’s work on the STRS Board show why it is essential that STRS members can elect, and hold accountable, representatives to the Board who are literally invested in the work of securing fair pensions for educators. On Wednesday, the Ohio House Public Insurance and Pensions Committee will hold its first hearing on HB 719, which would protect elected seats on the STRS Board and ensure that members can have a meaningful say in their own pension system. We urge all legislators to support educators by supporting HB 719.”
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