Legislative Updates: Education issues in Ohio, & Teacher Retirement System

VOUCHERS RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL - THE BATTLE IS JUST BEGINNING

Ohio's School Voucher Plan was ruled unconstitutional late in June by Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Jaiza Page. In her summary judgement, Page wrote "...private schools participating in EdChoice receive substantially more state funding per student than public schools..." Page did not go so far as to order a halt to the voucher program in anticipation of the appeals process she believes (as does everyone) is sure to follow.

The Fair School Funding Plan, a bi-partisan plan to correct the inequity in Ohio's school funding formula, was put in place in 2021. The two-year budget just signed into law by Governor DeWine was supposed to have included the last two years of the six year phase-in of the Funding Plan. Instead of following through on that implementation, the Ohio legislature and DeWine approved alternate funding for public schools roughly $2 billion less over the two year period. The new budget allocates $2.44 billion for vouchers, a dubious record amount in Ohio. Funding for vouchers comes from the same pot as funding for public schools, laying any cost increase at the doorstep of the state's public schools and its property tax payers.

We will keep you informed as the appeals process moves forward.

ORTA OPENED THE DOORS WIDE; THE POLITICIANS STEPPED IN

Bill Siegferth - Legislative Chair, My Opinion

The Ohio legislature completely trashed the existing makeup of the STRS Board in its new budget bill, eliminating the seven-member majority held by elected active and retired teachers. When fully phased in (2028), the number of elected teacher members will have shrunk to three, two active and one retired. Media coverage has suggested that legal action may follow, although who might bring that action and the legal basis for it has not been reported.

The outrageous overhaul was proposed by Rep. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond), chairman of the Ohio Retirement Study Council. Ironically, the Council, which oversees the state’s public pension systems, took no vote for or against changing Board membership. Bird and other legislators attributed their support for the change to the “chaos and corruption” that has prevailed at STRS over the last several years.

There’s no denying the chaos. Over the past five years, in this publication and in guest editorials, I’ve reported on the relentless attacks and baseless accusations leveled against STRS staff, consultants and “non-reform" or “status quo" Board members. The lion's share of the complaints and allegations have come from the Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association (ORTA) and its partner social media outlets, the STRS Ohio Watchdogs (founded by Dean Dennis, the ORTA Executive Council Chair) and the Ohio STRS Member Only Forum on Facebook. ORTA Executive Director Robin Rayfield has falsely declared that Ohio teachers have the worst pension system in the country and that retirees don’t get out of their pension what they put into it. Contrary to past and current Ohio law, he claims that when he retired he was promised a 3% COLA for life (not even Dean Dennis’ COLA lawsuit claims that). In 2021, Rayfield reported to a county chapter that “forensic auditor” Ted Siedle filed an SEC whistleblower complaint against STRS and reported his findings to the FBI. The untrue claim remains on ORTA’s YouTube page in spite of my having asked ORTA to remove it because it’s a false statement. In a 2023 Liaison Update, ORTA went so far as to claim a “trail of corruption connects Householder (of First Energy fame), DeWine and STRS.” The list of “grievances” goes on; to continue listing them here would needlessly belabor the point. And the point is that the non-stop attacks have contributed to top leadership leaving the system and two consulting firms voluntarily terminating their service agreements with STRS.

Beyond the circumstances above, handing Rep. Bird a convenient excuse to spearhead and justify the change in STRS Board membership is the allegation that two STRS Board members, one of whom currently serves as Chair (Fichtenbaum) and one whose term has expired (Steen), acted illegally in trying to steer business to a company called QED. A lawsuit filed by Attorney General Dave Yost alleges that both men violated their fiduciary duty to the pension system by working to get STRS to invest with the company after efforts by QED in 2020 to sell itself to STRS were rejected, reportedly because they had no clients, no track record and the company was not registered as a broker-dealer. In a 2023 email to Robin Rayfield, I asked if ORTA supported the QED investment strategy. Rayfield responded that ORTA, “…does not support ANY specific strategy suggested by ANY company.” There seems to be some evidence to the contrary. John Damschroder, at the time an editorial writer with the Fremont News-Press and one who had been supportive of ORTA initiatives, wrote in a piece titled Time for the full truth from ORTA, “Fichtenbaum, ORTA and the Ohio teachers who support them can't claim the high ground when they have materially misrepresented this proposal from day one.” He added, “Fichtenbaum and ORTA support a plan that attacks safety checks in both the U.S. and global financial system. Ohio teachers would be delivering financial fentanyl, profiting from deceit, either uncaring or unaware.” In yet another situation suggesting ORTA’s possible involvement with QED, the “Engagement Timeline” in the State Auditor’s investigation of STRS included “Meeting with Seth Metcalf and ORTA representative.” Seth Metcalf is a QED principal; the Auditor’s office identified the “ORTA representative” as Michael Dittoe of High Bridge Consulting. When asked the purpose of Metcalf and Dittoe appearing as its representatives, ORTA replied, “Mr. Dittoe serves in no capacity at ORTA. ORTA did work with High Bridge Consulting for a few months during 2022. There were no fees charged to ORTA and the work on behalf of ORTA by High Bridge was at no cost.”

Perhaps the most contradictory evidence to ORTA’s claim that they do not support QED happened this past April. In an email to the STRS Board, then Interim Executive Director Aaron Hood wrote, "Yesterday afternoon I received a telephone call from Robin Rayfield at ORTA. Robin offered to set up a meeting for me with representatives of QED (including Seth Metcalf) since there is so much “controversy”. I was so taken aback that I stepped out of my office and asked him to acknowledge his request again on speaker phone so that other staff could hear his confirmation of the request. I informed him that I will not meet with anyone related to QED and encouraged him to read the AG’s filings (including exhibits) involving communications from QED to a former board member. To be clear, no STRS staff will be meeting with representatives of QED and I would advise you all as board members to avoid any such meetings as well, especially in light of the pending outside litigation."

A recent column by Laura Bischoff of the Columbus Dispatch stated that, “QED aligned with the Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association to help elect new board members who might be more open to the new strategy.”

As the Attorney General’s lawsuit proceeds, what role ORTA played in the QED scheme, if any, may come to light. ORTA and Rayfield may find themselves in another bind over a separate issue…that of paying the legal fees of Fichtenbaum and Steen to fight the AG’s lawsuit. The Ohio Ethics Commission is supposedly looking into the practice but will not comment on an ongoing investigation according to a representative with whom I spoke. Along the same lines, one of the greatest ironies in my mind in the ongoing battle between ORTA and STRS is that no one has raised any ethical or legal concerns over ORTA’s payment of legal fees to a Board member while at the same time one of its (ORTA’s) highest ranking officers (Dean Dennis) is suing the Board (including the member for whom it is paying legal fees) as a plaintiff in the COLA lawsuit. As a child, my Mom would often remind me that, “Billy, you can’t have it both ways.” I’m not so sure that’s the case anymore.

Board Takeover Nov. 25, 2025

The legal battle is underway over the elimination of the elected member majority on the STRS Board.

By way of a last minute, late night conference committee addition to the state budget bill, the number of retried and active educators on the Board will be reduced over time from seven to three. The bill also bars an active or retired STRS member from serving as the Board chair. The change was the brainchild of Rep. Adam Bird (R-63), a member of the Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC). It appears that Bird acted as a lone ranger. There has been nothing to suggest that the ORSC played any role in support of Bird’s amendment, nor was there any prior discussion among representatives or senators about making the change.

Three teacher groups—the Ohio Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers and the Ohio affiliate of the American Association of University Professors—filed suit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in mid-September, seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) to block implementation of the law and a preliminary injunction challenging the legality of the manner in which the change was made. The court granted the restraining order on September 17. That decision was upheld by the 10th District Court of Appeals.

A hearing on preliminary junction was scheduled for October 10, as this publication was going to press. The difference between a TRO and a preliminary injunction has to do with the immediacy of the action. Both stop an action from taking place until a full blown hearing on the issues is held.

The lawsuit alleges three violations of the Ohio Constitution (as follows) occurred when the retirement board issue was included as part of the budget bill. (1) Equal protection: the bill leaves STRS as the only public pension system whose members are a minority on their system’s board. (2) Single Subject Rule: the constitution states that bills can cover only one subject and that the make-up of the STRS Board has nothing to do with the state budget. (3) Three Consideration Rule: the constitution requires every bill to be considered on three separate days.

Ohio Vouchers Nov. 25, 2025

We’ve previously reported that a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge ruled Ohio’s school voucher plan unconstitutional. That decision has been appealed by the State of Ohio. The appeal hearing has not yet been scheduled, and is likely not to take place until at least mid-2026. Over 300 districts have joined the coalition behind the lawsuit, including Summit County districts Akron, Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls, Green, Hudson, Nordonia, Springfield, Twins-burg and Woodridge.

Private school voucher funding increased this year by 9.4% while public school funding rose only 1.5%. In order to accommodate the grossly unfair funding increases, the legislature and Governor trashed the final phase-in of the bi-partisan fair school funding act, falling miserably short of the additional funds that formula would have budgeted for public schools. Clearly, diverting public dollars to private schools im-pacts our retirement system as teacher and employer payroll contributions are less than they otherwise would be.

Voucher programs have been in the news in many states across the country, most of which have consti-tutional language governing public school funding very similar to Ohio’s. Fortunately, not one state has thus far ruled private school vouchers constitutional.

SB69, The “Placeholder Bill” Nov. 25, 2025

Sen. Mark Romanchuk introduced SB69 as a “placeholder bill” last February. A placeholder bill is typically defined as a short bill expressing an agency’s intent (in this case, the Ohio legislature) to review or study a topic or issue (in this case, Ohio’s public pension systems). Romanchuk is a member of the Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC); the intent of his bill is ultimately to provide a legislative framework for improvement of the state’s five retirement systems.

In March, the STRS Board submitted a list of legislative requests to Romanchuk. Among them is a proposal that the employer contribution rate, currently 14%, be increased by 4% to 18% over an eight year period. STRS has put together a coalition of groups supporting an employer contribution increase. SCRTA is a member as are the state’s two teacher unions.

Passage of the budget bill in July hasn’t helped the prospects of an employer increase being proposed let alone approved. The shortfall in funding mentioned in the Voucher section above represents a huge challenge. Add to that talk of drastically reducing/eliminating property taxes, the lifeblood of public school funding, and we have to wonder if the placeholder bill will ever get written and if it does, will it include STRS’s most important request.

COLA Lawsuit Nov. 25, 2025

The long running battle over the legality of STRS’ decision in 2017 to reduce the then 2% COLA to 0% for five years may finally be set for trial. The original complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in 2019. The case was dismissed, then filed with the Franklin County Common Pleas court in late 2021.

A jury trial is reportedly due to begin October 26. The suit is a class action lawsuit. The two original plaintiffs are retired Cincinnati teachers, both of whom are active in ORTA, one serving on ORTA’s Executive Council.

The suit asks the court to find that the elimination of the COLA in 2017 was unlawful and in some cases, violates the U.S. and Ohio constitutions and certain federal and state laws. The relief sought includes damages and/or restitution in the amount of lost retirement benefits plus interest, an injunction enjoining STRS “from continuing to ignore its obligation to pay the annual two percent COLA benefits…” and “reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred by the plaintiffs…in processing this matter.” Interestingly, the suit is signed by attorneys from three different law firms. We are not aware if they are being paid for their services or, if they are, by who.