The members of the unions who filed the lawsuit include the Ohio Education Association, the Ohio Federation of Teachers and the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors.
The three unions said in a press release the lawsuit is the result of the “reckless actions of politicians.”
The legislature’s Republican leaders, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima and Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon), inserted the provision into the budget at the last minute, according to the unions.
The provision was written by State Rep. Adam Bird, R-New Richmond.
“We stand by the law that was passed and look forward to the law being upheld in court,” Bird said in a statement. “We believe the change was needed to provide stable governance to protect the pensions for hardworking teachers, current retirees, and future retirees.”
Representatives for Huffman and McColley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit alleges the STRS board changes are illegal for three reasons.
- Since only the STRS board was targeted, the policy violates teachers’ rights to equal protection under the law.
- The changes violate the “three considerations rule,” which requires that every bill should be considered by each house on three different days;
- The “Single Subject Rule,” which requires that “No bill shall contain more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in the title.”
Glenetta Krause, a district-wide teacher mentor for Cincinnati Public Schools and member of the OFT, said the policy is the “latest in a long line of attacks against educators in Ohio.”
“Statehouse politicians have underfunded our public schools, rolled back our collective bargaining rights, fully eliminated Ohio’s elected State Board of Education, and told us what we can and can’t teach,” Krause said. “Now they’re taking away our representation on our own retirement board.”
Kevin Cain, a retired teacher and counselor and member of the Ohio Education Association, said the law is “clear overreach by state policymakers, and it’s not just targeted at teachers.”
“By hijacking control of our pension fund, legislators are sending a thinly veiled threat to the other public pensions in Ohio, ‘if you make decisions we don’t like, we’ll take control of your pension too,’” Cain said.
Caleb Ochs-Naderer, a professor at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and member of the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors, said he has seen progress on the board lately.
“The power-hungry politicians at the statehouse want to take away our ability to elect our own advocates because they want control of our retirement savings,” said Ochs-Naderer. “They just see dollar signs when they look at STRS, but educators like me see our years of hard work and our dreams for the future.”
The STRS board, teachers and the state Republican leaders have been locked in a battle over how the board is running for several years, following the dismissal of its previous executive director, a takeover by board members who want more transparency, and a lawsuit against two of its board members from the state.
STRS has been embroiled in controversy in the last few years. In 2017, the state stopped cost-of-living increases for STRS retirees, following a 2012 pension reform law that required public employees to work longer for fewer benefits. In 2022, a one-time cost-of-living adjustment of 3% was made, but retirees still say it is not where they want it to be.
STRS oversees about $95 billion invested on behalf of Ohio’s educators. About half a million teachers and retirees are paying into or receive benefits from STRS.
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