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OEA reflects on final days of Lame Duck
Senate Bill 178 would have moved most of the oversight of education in Ohio away from the State Board of Education and into a newly created cabinet-level department under the Governor. Late Wednesday night, the Senate amended SB 178 into House Bill 151, which was originally intended to improve the state’s resident educator program and summative assessment. Harmful and unnecessary language to ban transgender girls from playing high school sports was also added to that bill by the House earlier this year. Early Thursday morning, in the final hours of the session, Ohio House members voted against concurring with the Senate’s Lame Duck changes. A new version of SB 178 will likely be reintroduced in the new year.
“OEA believes it is worth taking a hard look at how Ohio’s schools are governed and supported at the state level. However, collaboration is key,” OEA President Scott DiMauro said. “Stakeholders need to be at the table. The voices of Ohio’s educators need to be heard, valued and central to any change. That is how we will get the best results for Ohio’s students.”
OEA appreciates the work of legislators in the 134th General Assembly who adopted educator’s recommendations on Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid (DPIA), the funding component that supports economically disadvantaged students, resulting in an increase of approximately $56 million in additional state funding in FY ‘23. Additionally, lawmakers increased allocations of the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds for our public schools and provided an additional $112 million in federal funds for school building security and safety grants.
OEA remains hopeful that the next General Assembly will once again take up the cause of ending mandatory retention under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, after the Senate failed to act on the House-passed House Bill 497 this session.
OEA also looks forward to collaborating with Ohio’s elected leaders to ensure the Fair School Funding Plan is fully implemented in the new state budget. That plan, which represents the first constitutional school funding system in the state in decades, was adopted in the last budget but only funded through the end of this biennium.
“Certainly, there is more work to be done, especially around issues like addressing growing educator shortages and supporting student and educator mental health and wellness,” DiMauro said, “but OEA is proud of what our members have been able to accomplish through their diligent advocacy work this session. We all look forward to working collaboratively with members of the 135th General Assembly to ensure their important public education priorities are front and center as new legislation is introduced.”
December 2022 OEA Retirement Systems Update
SERS Reports Results of Actuarial Valuation
At the November meeting of the SERS Board, the system’s actuary presented the results of the annual actuarial valuation of the pension and health care plans. In fiscal year 2022, the funded status of the pension plan increased from 74.46% to 75.48% the prior year. The funding period, the amount of time needed to pay off the unfunded liabilities of the plan, decreased from 23 to 22 years.
Investment returns for FY 2022 were lower than the assumed rate of 7.0%. However, the actuarial valuation uses asset smoothing where gains and losses are realized over a four-year period. Because the unrecognized gains of the previous three years were greater than one-fourth of the loss in the most recent year, SERS’ actuarial value increased.
The valuation also reported the SERS health care plan to be just over 45% funded. This was a slight decrease from the prior year due to negative investment experience. The heath care plan is projected to remain solvent for 38 years, until 2060. At the present level of funding for the pension plan, the Board’s policy would allow for up to a 0.5% allocation of the 14% employer contribution to health care. However, at the September meeting, the SERS Board voted to allocate nothing towards the health care plan in order to put those assets towards pension benefits.
Reports Examine Pension System Recovery, Impact on Rural Communities
Two recent reports from the National Institute on Retirement Security examine public pension plans around the country. One examines the status of plans across the country and how they navigated recovery from the 2007 to 2009 Global Financial Crisis. Another illustrates the impact of public pension benefits on local economies.
Examining the Experiences of Public Pension Plans Since the Great Recession is a report that examines how plans have adapted in the years since the recession by taking actions to improve long-term resiliency. The report shows similarities between the Ohio public retirement systems and those across the country. Some key findings include:
- The majority of public pension plans recovered their pre- recession asset levels within six years, while continuing to pay over a trillion dollars in benefits.
- Based on lower projected returns, assumed rates of return on investments have decreased from eight to seven percent for the median public pension plan.
- Generational mortality tables have been broadly adopted by nearly all large public plans and future longevity improvements are now incorporated into projections.
- Many public plans have shortened amortization periods, or the period of time required to pay off an unfunded actuarial accrued liability. Tightening amortization periods, akin to paying off a mortgage more quickly, has had the effect of increasing short-term costs. In the long run, plans and stakeholders will benefit.
Fortifying Main Street: The Economic Benefit of Public Pension Dollars in Small Towns and Rural America underlines the importance of secure public pensions; not just for individual retirees but for their economic impact on communities. Some key findings include:
- Public pension benefit dollars represent between one and three percent of GDP on average in the 2,922 counties studied.
- Rural counties have the highest percentages of their populations receiving public pension benefits. .
- Small town counties experience a greater relative impact in terms of both GDP and total personal income from pension benefit dollars than rural or metropolitan counties.
- Rural counties see more of an impact in terms of personal income than metropolitan counties, while metropolitan counties and rural counties see an equivalent impact in terms of GDP.
Click here to download a copy of this December 2022 Report to the OEA Board of Directors. Previous Retirement Systems Updates can be viewed under the Affiliate Resources tab on the OEA website.
OEA applauds State Board of Education members working to end mandatory retention under “Third Grade Reading Guarantee”
[November 16, 2022] The Ohio Education Association (OEA) has long advocated for changes to Ohio law to end the harmful practice of mandatory retention tied to high-stakes standardized testing for elementary schoolers. OEA applauds the State Board of Education for voting 18-1 to pass a resolution urging the General Assembly to eliminate the requirement that third-grade students who do not meet cut scores on the English language arts assessment must repeat that grade in most cases. The text of that resolution can be accessed here.
The State Board of Education’s resolution asks the Ohio Senate to pass House Bill 497, which the Ohio House passed with broad bipartisan support in June. The Ohio Senate must move forward on the bill and pass it by the end of the legislative session this year, or lawmakers will have to start from square one on it again in the next General Assembly.
“Our students cannot wait for Ohio lawmakers to do the right thing and end the harmful practice of mandatory retention under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee,” said OEA President Scott DiMauro. “The research has been clear that mandatory retention disproportionately impacts students of color while failing to result in any meaningful academic gains for students over time. The law requiring mandatory retention was misguided. House Bill 497 sets that right while maintaining the Third Grade Reading Guarantee’s emphasis on building critical literacy skills for young students.”
By reducing the number of required administrations of the third-grade ELA test, House Bill 497 ensures more time for meaningful teaching and learning. More importantly, it ensures that the life-altering decisions about whether a student can advance to the fourth grade are made by their parents, educators, and school administrators—the people who know the child and their abilities best.
“The clock is ticking, and Ohio families are watching. There’s no excuse for the Ohio Senate to fail to take up this bill,” DiMauro said.
October 2022 OEA Retirement Systems Update
NEA, Tim Ryan Working to Repeal GPO-WEP
The Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) are federal laws that unfairly punish public employees by reducing their earned Social Security retirement and spousal benefits. Many OEA members in STRS, SERS, and OPERS are impacted. OEA members and the National Education Association (NEA) have been working for decades to repeal these punitive provisions. Congressman Tim Ryan (D- OH 13) has been a key ally in these efforts.
The GPO reduces the Social Security spousal or survivor benefits of people who get a public pension but did not pay Social Security taxes themselves. The WEP reduces the Social Security retirement, disability, spousal or survivor benefits of people who work in jobs which pay Social Security taxes and jobs in which they do not. Because Ohio public employees are exempt from Social Security, these provisions impact hundreds of thousands of Ohioans. The Congressional Research Service reports that WEP affects 1.9 million Americans, and the GPO affects nearly 700,000.
Critical legislation is pending in Congress. The bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act (S. 1302/H.R. 82) would fully repeal GPO and WEP. The Social Security 2100 Act (S. 3071/H.R. 5723) would fully repeal GPO and WEP, expand and strengthen benefits, and ensure that wealthy Americans pay their fair share. Click here to urge your legislators to support these important bills.
Congressman Tim Ryan, OEA’s recommended candidate for the U.S. Senate, is a cosponsor of both bills. He has consistently supported full repeal of GPO and WEP. The retirement security of working Americans is a key priority for him. He has testified on behalf of Delphi employees who had their pensions terminated and has taken on the drug companies to lower drug prices for retirees. As a Senator, he would work with U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (a lead sponsor of S. 1302) to ensure a fair deal for Ohio’s educators.
STRS Makes Major Improvements to Retiree Health Care Plan
During the October Board meeting, the STRS Board unanimously approved several changes to make the STRS health care plan more affordable for retirees. The improvements were based on the robust funding position of the health care plan and cost savings achieved through contract bidding for a pharmacy benefits manager and health insurance administrator.
Changes adopted by the Board include:
- Premium reductions for both non-Medicare and Medicare enrollees
- Increased premium subsidy levels for non-Medicare retirees (2.5% per year of service to a
maximum of 75%) - A $600 premium rebate for enrollees with coverage in October 2022.
- Equivalent to a $50 per moth reduction, capped at the actual premiums paid
- The rebate is non-taxable and will be in the December benefit payment
The actuarial valuation of the health care plan showed a funding level of 230% for the health care plan. The improved funding level was due to changes in demographics (lower enrollment), assumption changes, lower claims among Medicare enrollees, and reduced trend assumptions. This level of funding is a strong indicator that improvements to the plan can be made without jeopardizing the long-term funding of the health care plan and its availability for future retirees.
The bidding process for pharmacy benefits manager and health insurance administrator resulted in substantial savings. STRS will move to CVS as its pharmacy benefits manager, replacing Express Scripts. CVS provided a savings of roughly $214 million (18.6%) over projected costs. Aetna was selected as the sole medical administrator. Aetna offered significant savings for the Medicare population, was the only finalist that provided lower pricing for the non-Medicare population, and provided a $32 million cost reduction for the 2023 plan which will be passed along in direct premium reductions.
Medicare Announces Lower Part B Premiums
Medicare Part B premiums and deductibles will decline in 2023. Medicare Part B covers physician services, outpatient hospital services, certain home health services, durable medical and health services not covered by Medicare Part A.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a premium of $164.90 per month, down over five dollars from the current year. The annual deductible will be $226, a decrease of about seven dollars.
Actuarial Valuation of STRS Pension Plan Shows Improvement and Warning Signs
The actuarial valuation of the STRS pension plan was presented to the STRS Board at its October meeting. Cheiron, the actuarial consulting firm for STRS, reported on the financial status of the plan as of June 30, 2022. The actuarial valuation of assets shows a funding level of 80.9%, up slightly from 80.1%. The funding period (the amount of time needed to pay off the unfunded liabilities) improved from 14 years to 11.5 years.
Again, these numbers are based on the actuarial value of assets where investment gains and losses are recognized over a four-year period through a process of smoothing. STRS investments had a large positive return in fiscal year 2021 and those results are still being phased in. In contrast, fiscal year 2022 had an investment loss that will be recognized over four years. Using market value, the funding status of the plan dropped from 87.8% to 78.9%.
The drop in the funding level is not solely due to investment losses. In fiscal year 2022, STRS paid out over $7.1 billion to retirees and beneficiaries. This far outpaces the amount contributed by employees and employers resulting in negative cash flow. Positive investment returns on the assets are needed to offset this.
Click here to download a copy of this October 2022 Report to the OEA Board of Directors. Previous Retirement Systems Updates can be viewed under the Affiliate Resources tab on the OEA website.
Senate Bill 361 – OEA Government Relations Summary
Senate Bill 361 – OEA Government Relations Summary – October 4, 2022
Status: Introduced 10/3/22; Senator Sponsor: Hoagland; Co-sponsors: Senators O’Brien, Cirino, Lang, Schaffer; Committee assignment pending.
Overview: SB 361 authorizes school districts, charter schools, and STEM schools to employ unlicensed military veterans as teachers if they meet certain qualifications listed in the bill.
Note: SB 361 amends existing Ohio law (RC 3319.283- Veteran not certified or licensed) that authorizes school districts to employ unlicensed military veterans as teachers if the individual is: (1) a veteran of the armed forces of the United States honorably discharged within three years of June 30, 1997; (2) while in the armed forces the individual had “meaningful teaching or other instructional experience”; and (3) the individual holds at least a baccalaureate degree.
Employment of unlicensed military veterans as teachers:
- A school governing authority (school district board of education, charter school governing board, governing body of a STEM school) may employ an individual as a teacher who is not certificated or licensed if they meet the following qualifications:
(1) The individual is a veteran of the armed forces of the United States to whom all of the following apply:
(a) The individual completed at least forty-eight months of active duty military service.
(b) The individual received an honorable discharge or a medical separation from the armed forces.
(c) The individual satisfies at least one of the following conditions:
(i) The individual has a letter from a former commanding officer that states that the individual is qualified to teach.
(ii) The individual earned a master training specialist certification from the United States navy.
(iii) The individual served as a training officer or a lead instructor while in the armed forces.
(iv) The individual served as a noncommissioned officer, a warrant officer, or a senior enlisted person.
(2) The individual has demonstrated mastery of the subject area to be taught, as determined by the school governing authority;
(3) The individual completed at least sixty college credits with a grade point average of at least 2.5 out of 4.0 from one or more accredited institutions of higher education.
Professional development requirements:
- Each individual employed under this section shall meet the requirement to successfully complete fifteen hours, or the equivalent, of coursework every five years that is approved by the local professional development committee as is required of other teachers licensed in accordance with RC 3319.
State superintendent may revoke right to teach:
- The superintendent of public instruction may revoke the right of an individual employed under this section to teach if, after an investigation and an adjudication conducted pursuant to RC 119, the superintendent finds that the person is not competent to teach the subject the person has been employed to teach or did not fulfill the requirements of this section.
- No individual whose right to teach has been revoked under this division shall teach in a public school, and no school governing authority may engage such an individual to teach in a school.
Mentoring:
The employing school governing authority shall assign a mentor to an individual employed under this section for at least the first two years of employment. The assigned mentor shall be a teacher to whom all of the following apply:
- The teacher holds a valid educator license under RC 3319.22.
- The teacher has at least three years of teaching experience in any of grades pre-kindergarten through twelve.
- If the school governing authority is a board of education, the teacher received a rating of skilled or higher on the teacher’s most recent evaluation under RC 3319.111.
Military veterans currently teaching under existing RC 3319.283:
- Any individual employed as a teacher under current RC 3319.283 (Veteran not certified or licensed) may continue such employment on and after that date, subject to provisions in the bill regarding professional development, criminal records checks, and state superintendent revocation of the right to teach.
Miscellaneous:
- An individual employed under SB 361 shall be deemed to hold a teaching certificate or educator license for the purposes of state and federal law and rules and regulations and the school governing authority’s policies, rules, and regulations. However, an individual employed under this section is not a properly certified or licensed teacher for purposes of the a school district’s or STEM school’s compliance with RC 3319.074 (Professional qualifications of teachers and paraprofessionals).
- As a condition of employment, each individual employed under this section shall be subject to a criminal records check as prescribed by RC 3319.391.
OEA calls for end of mandatory retention under Third Grade Reading Guarantee
[October 10, 2022] The Ohio Education Association (OEA) joined together Monday with state leaders, educators, and education policy experts to advocate for action in the General Assembly to end mandatory retention tied to third-grade standardized testing.
A full recording of Monday’s virtual event can be viewed and downloaded here.
“Mandatory retention under the so-called ‘Third Grade Reading Guarantee’ takes decisions about students’ futures out of the hands of parents, administrators, and teachers who know them best, allowing politicians in Columbus to determine their fates based on arbitrary cut-scores on high-stakes English language arts tests,” said OEA President Scott DiMauro, who moderated Monday’s event. “OEA commends the State Board of Education for its attention to this issue as it considers a resolution to call on the General Assembly to change this misguided law.”
“Grade retention distorts test data, disproportionately impacts and punishes vulnerable populations of students, and creates a distraction from reading reform’s ultimate goal of increased student reading proficiency,” noted Furman University Professor Dr. Paul Thomas in his recent white paper, “A Critical Examination of Grade Retention as Reading Policy.”
“It’s rare that policymakers stop and measure mandated education initiatives for their effectiveness, but that’s exactly what we have done for third grade retention. Through data provided by the Ohio Department of Education, we now know retention has failed as an initiative and has, in fact, hurt children more than helped,” said Dr. Christina Collins, Ohio State Board of Education member for District 7, who put forth the resolution that the State Board of Education is considering this week.
“In my experiences as a third-grade teacher, I have observed students put tremendous stress on themselves, become discouraged, think of themselves as losers, and develop behavioral problems because of this punitive, socially inappropriate, and educationally ineffective practice,” agreed Karen Carney, a teacher at Campbell Elementary & Middle School in Campbell, Ohio. “What a huge burden for a young child to carry—this truly broke my heart. As an educator, my primary job is to teach my students to be life-long learners, not test takers.”
“Ending mandatory retention has broad bipartisan support because it’s the right thing to do for kids,” said State Rep. Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville), who sponsored House Bill 497, a measure to end mandatory retention under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee. “These decisions should be made by parents and educators, not dictated by a score on a test.”
House Bill 497 passed in the Ohio House in June. The Ohio Senate must take up the bill and pass it when lawmakers return to session later this fall.
OEA members offer solutions to state’s growing teacher recruitment and retention crisis
[September 29, 2022] As Ohio continues to contend with an alarming decrease in staffing in its K-12 public schools, educators from around Ohio have come together to take on the problem and offer potential solutions. The Ohio Education Association (OEA) convened the cadre of diverse educators, as part of the National Education Association’s Educator Voice Academy (EVA) program, beginning in January, 2022. The EVA team’s full report, which includes numerous suggestions for Ohio’s elected leaders and OEA, is available here.
“Ohio’s growing teacher recruitment and retention crisis is one of the largest issues of our time,” OEA President Scott DiMauro pointed out. “When excellent educators are feeling that they have no choice but to leave the profession or young people are left feeling that teaching is not a sustainable career option – for a variety of reasons noted in the EVA’s report – Ohio students lose out on crucial opportunities and supports. Ohio’s students can no longer wait for meaningful solutions to this problem.”
Recommendations in the EVA report include:
- Immediately increase Ohio state minimum teacher’s salary to $40,000, and pending approval of a change in OEA Legislative Policy by the OEA Representative Assembly, increase the state minimum salary to $50,000.
- Fully fund the Fair School Funding Plan in the 2023-2025 state biennial budget and provide state support to local school districts with the resources to help fund necessary salary increases.
- Extend Public Service Loan Forgiveness deadlines and expand student loan forgiveness, grants, and scholarship programs to provide meaningful financial relief for those who commit to serving students in our public schools.
- Strengthen educators’ retirement security by supporting a fully funded State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio and repealing the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).
- Remove financial barriers for completion of pre-service requirements for teacher licensure.
- Require the state to complete a comprehensive assessment of the alignment of Ohio’s teacher preparation programs with the realities of PK-12 schools.
- Seek feedback from educators on their working conditions and create systems for school leaders to act on that feedback to make necessary changes to policies, practices, and culture in schools.
- Create and maintain an accessible statewide database of education job openings to facilitate the matching of educators seeking employment with available positions and to provide a reliable source of information for the public to monitor trends in education employment in Ohio.
“It is important to note that the recommendations from the Educator Voice Academy are focused exclusively on issues related to the recruitment and retention of teachers; issues related to the recruitment and retention of education support professionals, including bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and paraprofessionals, among others, is an equally important topic deserving serious consideration as soon as possible,” DiMauro said. “Ohio’s policymakers and school leaders need to take immediate, significant action to ensure our students have all their needs met so they can learn, grow, and thrive in our classrooms. The time to act is now.”
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September 2022 OEA Retirement Systems Update
SERS Approves 2.5% COLA
At its Board meeting on Thursday, September 15, 2022, the SERS Board unanimously approved a 2.5% cost-of-living allowance (COLA) for calendar year 2023. State statute provides for an annual COLA based on the federal cost of living index capped at 2.5%. However, the SERS Board has discretion to go above that level based on determination of the Board’s actuary about the impact on the funding of the pension plan.
In discussion among the Board members, several expressed reservations about going above the 2.5% level. This was based on the funding of the pension plan being under 80%, poor investment returns during fiscal year 2022 and in the first few months of fiscal year 2023. While acknowledging the high level of inflation that retirees are dealing with, several expressed that it would be better to have incremental increases each year rather than a higher increase followed by another freeze in the COLA.
STRS Boards Reviews Fiduciary Audit
At its Board meeting on Thursday, September 15, 2022, the STRS Board received an update on the fiduciary performance audit. The Ohio Retirement Study Council engaged Funston Advisory Services to perform a thorough review of STRS policies, procedures, reporting and operations. The report was completed in June of this year.
Major findings of the fiduciary audit showed that STRS has been effectively fulfilling its fiduciary duties; that STRS investment performance is in the top quartile of retirement systems in the country and that member services are a top performer with low costs relative to peer systems. While there were no “red flags” revealed in the audit, there were over 170 recommendations for improvements. At the STRS Board meeting in November, the Board will receive a progress report on implementation of the recommendations with further discussion or action on issues of board policy and governance.
Also, during the September meeting, the Board passed a motion to post meeting materials to the public two days in advance of future board meetings. Motions to have live video streaming of board meetings and consideration of Saturday board meetings were postponed for consideration at the November meeting.
OPERS Health Care Fund Increases Solvency Period
During the August meeting of the OPERS Board, the system’s actuarial firm, Gabriel Roeder, Smith & Co., presented the expected solvency of the OPERS Health Care Fund. The solvency period increased to 29 years in 2021. This was a increase of four years compared to the previous valuation.
Further projections from the actuary show that approximately 2% of pay in employer contributions would be needed to fund the projected retiree health care benefits indefinitely. Currently, all of the available employer contributions are allocated to the pension plan. Absent any future contributions, the projections show the fund running out of money in 2051.
Click here to download a copy of this September 2022 Report to the OEA Board of Directors. Previous Retirement Systems Updates can be viewed under the Affiliate Resources tab on the OEA website.