Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
Ohio Attorney General David Yost has opened an investigation into State Teachers Retirement System pension board members over a possible takeover by private interests, according to the attorney general’s office.
“Pension board members are required by law to act in the best interest of the teachers whose money they invest,” Yost said. “I will take whatever action is necessary to protect teachers against private interests attempting to hijack their retirement accounts.”
Yost cited an anonymous letter that his office and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s office received recently. The letter centers on a handful of board members accused of trying to get the teacher retirement system (STRS) to use a different system than the one it currently uses and with which the system found multiple problems.
Robin Rayfield, director of the Ohio Retired Teachers Association, pushed back against concerns voiced this week by Yost and DeWine.
“Reformers won the battle of ideas through a fair democratic process over the last six elections,” Rayfield said. “Teachers voted for reform because reform is desperately needed. Our actions in support of reform have been legal, ethical and necessary. This anonymous letter is nothing more than sour grapes from those who have lost.”
Under Ohio law, the attorney general can take civil action against an STRS board member who breaches the member’s fiduciary duty. STRS Ohio oversees about $90 billion in pension funds for about 530,000 retired school employees.
