Five Candidates Certified for CTPF Teacher Pension Election
Chicago Teacher Union members will vote from October 14 to November 1 for two teacher trustees to serve on the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund for a three-year term.
The five certified candidates are incumbents Quentin Washington and Victor Ochoa, Erika Meza, Philip Weiss and Vicki Kuzydlo.
There are serious issues facing the pension fund so it should be interesting to hear what the candidates have to say.
The Chicago Teachers Pension Fund is only 47 percent funded and a majority of teachers today are Tier 2 which means they receive a far diminished pension.
There are also talks about merging CTPF with the Teachers Retirement System of IL because of the funding woes and accusations about mismanagement of the pension, including paying high and hidden fees to money managers.
The CTU House of Delegates will hold a virtual CTPF election forum on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 for the five candidates running in the election.
Teacher Trustee Quentin Washington is an incumbent seeking a second term who chairs the pension laws and administrative rules committee. His bio includes working against a merger of TRS and CTPF, and protecting Tier 2 members and retired teachers who exceed the 140 work day to substitute. Washington voted to continue giving pension money to Ariel even though they have been on a watchlist for poor performance and have ties to Starbucks union busting.
Teacher Trustee Victor Ochoa is an incumbent and chair of the technology committee. Ochoa’s bio focused on his background that states he is in his 28th year of teaching, worked at four schools and chaired in the past CTU legislative, high school steering and PPC committees. He wrote that his mother survived tuberculosis and his late father was illiterate. He did not provide specific information about investments or future plans.
Trustee Washington (CORE) has focused on hiring diverse money managers, while Trustee Ochoa (Members First) has focused on defending private equity. They both have traveled around the country to attend numerous pension conferences.
Erika Meza is chair of the Tier 2 Committee who boasts an extensive knowledge of financial investments and has run financial literacy workshops and seminars. Her bio includes the work she has done for Tier 2 including starting a petition to abolish Tier 2, preparing informational flyers that compared Tier 1 and Tier 2 pension benefits, and helping start a Tier 2 Facebook group. Meza has spoken at CTPF board meetings about her concerns hiring more active managers that charge high fees rather than just invest in a low-fee index fund. She has also raised issues about Tier 2 at the House of Delegates meetings. Second City Teachers interviewed Meza this past summer.
Phil Weiss (Members First) is the former CTPF Investment Chair who lost in his re-election bid last year. He has been a vocal opponent of CORE and stated in his bio, “I am worried that CORE will make us POOR. I will fight this unacceptable political influence, restore the Fund to our values and standards, and prioritize the needs of the membership.” Weiss first shocked many when he defeated CORE in 2020, but he was named by a CORE controlled board to chair investments and worked with President Jeffery Blackwell to censor three female minority trustees. He wrote that his mission is to grow the Fund’s wealth on his watch and that he advocated for a comprehensive review of the Fund’s investment strategy. He claims that political motives, rather than disciplined financial principles, is threatening the Fund’s performance.
Vicki Kurzydlo is a teacher trustee candidate running on the CORE ticket. She is a 30 year veteran, a delegate at Sauganash and a member of the CTU Executive Board. Her bio did not mention any plans or investment experience, but rather her allegiance to CORE, which includes supporting minority vendors, fighting against a merger, investing in clean energy, fixing Tier 2 and stopping hedge funds and union-busting private equity firms.
The CTPF stopped investing in hedge funds several years ago.
When it comes to having retirement money in the future, CTU members should take a close look at the candidates before voting. A lot is at stake.