Teachers’ pension system adds reformer in election

Flanigan’s group seeks sweeping changes

Reformers seeking control of the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio won another seat on the 11-member board Saturday when Michelle Flanigan was elected.

Flanigan, a government teacher at Brunswick City Schools, soundly defeated Sandy Smith Fischer, an intervention specialist at Streetsboro City Schools, for a seat representing active teachers. Flanigan received nearly 23,000 votes to Fischer’s nearly 4,000 votes, according to STRS.

Flanigan had the backing of groups pushing for sweeping changes to the system. She’ll replace Dale Price, who currently serves as board chairman. Her term starts Sept. 1.

Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association, which backed Flanigan, applauded the win.

“For years, our educators have been cheated and dismissed by a STRS culture that resists transparency and thrives on power and self-enrichment,” the group said in a written statement. “Reformers now have a clear and convincing mandate to institute real change and restore trust. Ms. Flanigan’s voice and stewardship will be critical in that effort.”

STRS Ohio, which oversees about $90 billion invested on behalf of 500,000 teachers and retirees, is at a crossroads.

Its executive director, William Neville, has been placed on administrative leave through mid-may. A national consulting firm hired to help the board with governance issues severed its contract early. The governor removed appointee Wade Steen from the unpaid board, prompting Steen to successfully sue to get his seat back. Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association has been publicly critical of the pension fund leadership. And a new firm, QED, pushed board members and STRS staff to hire QED to pursue a new investment strategy.

Last week, Gov. Mike Dewine received documents that allege the system is facing a hostile takeover by private interests. The documents point to current and former board members,

saying they’re working with QED and the retiree group.

Dewine shared the records with Ohio

Attorney General Dave Yost, who opened an investigation.

State law allows the attorney general to bring a civil case to remove public pension board members if they failed to act in the best financial interest of the system.

When the 10th District Court of Appeals

ruled in April that the governor lacked the authority to remove Steen, Steen promptly returned to the board meeting. That gave the reformers majority control. Flanigan joining the board this fall will briefly add to that majority. Steen’s term ends in late September and the governor will not reappoint him.

The board meets Wednesday and Thursday.

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.