Rep. Brennan Criticizes STRS Board Overhaul as Undemocratic, Unvetted

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Sean Patrick Brennan (D-Parma), a retired public school teacher and member of the House Pensions Committee and Ohio Retirement Study Council, today issued the following statement in response to a last-minute proposal to dramatically restructure the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Board of Trustees: 

“The move to strip directly elected teacher and retiree representation from the STRS Board is deeply troubling—both in its substance and the way it was pushed forward. This structural overhaul was introduced without meaningful transparency, without stakeholder input, and without the careful vetting a change of this magnitude demands.

I have said all along: the structure of the STRS Board is not the fundamental problem. The issue is whether the right people are elected and appointed—people who are ethical, informed, and accountable to the members whose retirement security is at stake.

Rather than strengthening the system, this proposal diminishes the voice of working educators and retirees—those who pay into and rely on STRS every day. Reducing the number of elected contributing and retired members and stacking the board with political appointees not only silences the voices of frontline educators, but risks turning this vital system into a tool for partisan control.

Let me be clear: I believe in oversight and reform when necessary. But reform should mean better transparency, improved member communication, and evidence-based decision-making—not sidelining the very people who built and fund the retirement system. Any change to the STRS Board structure should be developed in the open, with robust public dialogue and participation from the people most affected. This is not reform—it’s a power grab,” said Rep. Brennan.