Sondra Stratton's letter to Judge Reece

How many more retirees are there whose highest pay was less than some of the BONUSES?

November 17, 2005

Judge Guy Reece II
Franklin County Court of Common Pleas
General Delivery
369 S. High Street
Columbus, OH 43215-7A

Judge Reece;

I am a veteran teacher who retired in 2000. By the age of 20, I had a year’s experience as an educational aide and was in my own classroom where I stayed for 30 years.

A teacher goes through many ups and downs and plenty of burn-outs. We must purchase many of our teaching “tools, continue expensive education….much of which does NOT help in the classroom, and in our rural Brown County district, we went without pay once when the district was in financial straights (even though we all had families and our Christmas’ were meager that year) and we were the victims of an arson that ravaged the school. While the entire building was not burned, much damage from smoke incurred. Unfortunately, my room was right next to the fire. Needless to day, 25 years worth or work and teaching aides were lost. That is very discouraging and was a VERY difficult year as we started the year not knowing what supplies or texts, etc. we had….actually we only had what we went out and purchased with our own money….including, in my case running off enough papers to last for a week or two.

The one thing that has always been there to help us through the bad times has been the PROMISE of a decent retirement pension and a “Cadillac” of a health care plan. The security of those two things were very important to me. Especially, after putting my health in jeopardy all those years by being with young ones when they became ill and were the most infectious!!! Those promises helped me through the burnout or tough periods. After all, it would be worth being taken care of at the end of my career.

Within the 5 years that I have been retired, I have seen my healthcare insurance double ( in some cases, more than twice) deductibles rise as well as medication, and the deterioration of my policy. I might add that we have to deal with a company who will go to great lengths to keep from paying claims! We receive a 3% COLA on our beginning retirement pay and lost the “13th Check” (I never even got one!). Through all this the news of the “ERA of ENTITLEMENT” came to light!!! As one of the people who began this journey for explanation and justice by being a very squeaky wheel, I can tell you that I have not been a happy camper and fighting for what I have been promised, worked for, and am entitled to, has sure not been what I planned to do with my retirement. Employees have had the Cadillac of healthcare plans. Paying no premiums until recent years, no out of pocket deductibles, FREE dental plan, FREE life insurance, etc. etc. all the while mine has quadrupled and I must pay for things like dental and eyeglass coverage!! In contrast, ours is no longer a Cadillac but a salvaged JUNKER.

To make a LONG story short, MILLIONS of our hard earned, precious $$$$ for our retirement is “gone with the wind” on needless trips, expensive hotels, BOOZE, and basically the board and employees’ hedonistic wants for themselves…. helping themselves to our money to waste!!!! That is just what we know. GOD only knows how much more there is that we have yet to discover!!!!

We have been told that we had no contract to ensure our healthcare even though we were guaranteed a lifetime of healthcare when going to our retirement meetings by STRS representatives……even right up to being told they could no longer afford to cover spouses!!!!

The purpose, I am sure you have guessed, of this letter is to let you know of my dismay at your decision to award these greedy and out of control STRS employees money in the way of a bonus just for doing a job for which they were already paid!!! Never in my career did I ever get a turkey or ham as a bonus let alone more money than I ever dreamed of getting in a year’s time! You see, many of those employees you warded our money to is getting a bonus bigger than recent retirees made their highest years and more than the older retiree could ever even dream of!! My highest pay was $42,000. These employees did not have a contact either. They had no more or less than retirees did a promise of the best healthcare insurance!!!

Your honor, I was born and stayed in the rural area, actually on the edge of Appalachia. Our salaries were never the best but I did not complain as I knew (well, thought) I had a decent retirement coming.

Judge Reece, it is time to do your homework where STRS and its employees are concerned!!! Please set aside or reverse your decision to award greedy, selfish people of money they do not deserve nor did they do extra work to get. Every penny they get comes directly out of the pockets of retirees. I would also ask that you become informed on the disgraceful behavior, acts, and unethical actions

that have occurred at STRS by the board and some employees, before you make further decisions. $60 Billion dollars might sound like a lot of money and perhaps it would be for a small retirement system but when over 100,000 now depend on it with over 300,000 more people coming down the road, it is not a great deal of money. Please do not give them any more money. They do not deserve what you have already so generously given of our money! To award these people punitive damages would be an additional slap in the face to retirees….adding salt to our already stinging wounds!!

With over 400,000 votes over the state of OH it could/will make and break careers!!!

Thank you for listening. Please take the thoughts and concerns that I have shared with you into consideration when dealing with this outrageous lawsuit. As far as I am concerned, everyone whose name is a party to this lawsuit, should be/will be out on the street looking for work!!!!

Respectfully,

Sondra Stratton,
Former President of the Brown County Retired Teachers Association