Thank you for contacting your state legislators, the Ohio Senate President, and the Speaker of the Ohio House about changes to the STRS Board that will put partisan political appointees in charge and weaken the voice of STRS members! Hundreds of OFT members have already contacted legislators about this anti-democratic change that was crammed into the state budget at the last possible moment.

If we allow these changes to the STRS Board to remain unchallenged it will set a dangerous precedent that the state legislature can take over the board of any public pension system simply because they do not like the decisions being made by a democratically elected board.

Unprecedented threats require unprecedented action. That’s why we need members to take just a few minutes and record a short video talking about why it’s important to you that the STRS Board retains all elected Board positions.

We’re trying out a new online tool, Vloggi, to collect these short videos. You can record or upload your video using the instructions on this page.  

Your video can answer one or both of the following questions:

• Why is it important to you that members have a meaningful voice on the STRS Board (by retaining all elected board seats)?
• What was your reaction, or how did you feel, when legislators slipped the STRS Board changes into the state budget at the last minute?

We plan to use these videos on social media to build awareness about this issue. We may also share these videos directly with legislators, as we continue to ask them to reverse these changes to the STRS Board.

Personal stories from educators and union members can have a lot of power, especially on an issue that most voters are unfamiliar with, like the STRS Board.

Please take a few minutes to record or upload your video here. If you have any questions or technical problems, you can reach out to OFT Communications Director Neil Bhaerman at nbhaerman@oft-aft.org.

In Solidarity,

Melissa Cropper, President