Current board chair Rudy Fichtenbaum was the only candidate to qualify for the retired member seat up for election this year, so no election was required. He will retain the seat with his new term beginning Sept. 1, 2025, and running through Aug. 31, 2029.
Michael Harkness is the first vice president of the Akron Education Association and has been with Akron Public Schools for 14 years. Harkness has served on the STRS board since being appointed in fall 2024.
Chad Smith is a 27-year veteran teacher in Columbus City Schools with leadership experience with his union, the Columbus Education Association.
“Michael Harkness and Chad Smith have pledged to work with the current board majority to continue improving transparency and accountability at STRS and to continue stabilizing the fund’s financial conditions,” said OFT President Melissa Cropper. “These ongoing efforts, spearheaded by Board members that OFT has endorsed in past elections, has allowed STRS to begin restoring benefits by providing cost of living adjustments to retirees and lowering the years of service requirement for contributing members.”
Cropper said the OFT was concerned as legislators began to call for a review of the composition of the STRS board as the election period was finishing.
The 11-member board currently consists of seven elected members (five contributing members and two retirees), three investment experts, all of whom are appointed, and the director of the Department of Education and Workforce or their designee.
Educators are concerned that their elected representatives on the board will be pushed out in favor of more appointed members of the board, Cropper said.
“Removing elected educators at a time when the fund is performing well and moving in the right direction would be a slap in the face to the people who contribute to the fund and are most impacted by the decisions being made,” Cropper said.
Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association, agreed with Cropper.
“Elected board members who represent participants in the system are the best stewards of the pension fund,” DiMauro said. “The current composition of the Board provides for this along with significant input from four appointed members. OEA is actively engaging legislators to reiterate our position on board composition and will advocate on this issue throughout the legislative process.”
STRS oversees about $95 billion invested on behalf of Ohio’s educators. About half a million teachers and retirees are paying into or receive benefits from STRS.
STRS has been embroiled in controversy in the last few years following the dismissal of its previous executive director, a takeover by board members who want more transparency, and a lawsuit against two of its board members from the state.
In 2017, the state stopped cost-of-living increases for STRS retirees, following a 2012 pension reform law that required public employees to work longer for fewer benefits. In 2022, a one-time cost-of-living adjustment of 3% was made, but retirees still say it is not where they want it to be.
The board is looking for the next director of the STRS, after the previous director was paid to leave in 2024 and a previous interim director left in 2024.
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