On May 13, 2026, the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) is holding an election to elect a trustee to the TRS board. This board is responsible for deciding how to invest the money that is in our pension fund. For many years, candidates have been nominated at the Delegate Assembly, approved by the chancellor, and with no opposition, placed on the board. In 2024, Ben Morgenroth ran against Christina McGrath, but the election was not held according to the NYC administrative codes. This resulted in a lawsuit, but the results were not overturned. This year, there are three candidates on the ballot, and therefore a formal election will take place.
The TRS board is made up of the comptroller, two members that the mayor appoints, and three teacher members. Currently, the three teacher members are Tom Brown, Victoria Lee, and Christina McGrath. The teacher members serve a three year term. When the three years have ended, new candidates may be considered. Every May one of the teacher candidate seats is open to reelection. This May, Tom Brown is running to reclaim his seat.
This election is very important and teachers must participate. There are many proposals that will be in front of the TRS board. The two most concerning are the proposals that change pension funding. The first of these is reamortization of the money that the city owes the pension fund. Reammortization is a restructuring of the debt the city owes the pension funds, and would allow the city to make smaller payments to the pensions over a longer period of time. The idea is to free up money from the pension to spend on other projects.
The second idea being considered is pension obligation bonds. These are bonds that would be issued by NYC. The bonds would be purchased, and the money invested. The pension fund would need to pay the bond holder whatever return they were to receive on the bond, and simultaneously, make money to fund the pension. This idea was implemented is Detroit, with disastrous results. Detroit issued the bonds, the 2008 crisis hit the stock market, and Detroit’s pension fund became insolvent. There are other municipalities that had failing results such as Stockton California and New Orleans Louisiana, too name but a few. Both of these proposals could have serious consequences, neither serve the best interest of pension holders. It is the responsibility our TRS board to protect members from risky endeavors such as these. The TRS board will be under tremendous pressure to permit pension payment restructuring. TRS must act a fiduciary, meaning that they must make decisions in their members best interest, and only in their members best interest. They must be able to resist pressure from union leaders and city officials.
Therefore, a careful look at the candidates is really necessary. David Kazansky is running for a TRS position. David has served on the board in the past. He is not the candidate selected by Michael Mulgrew, and can provide an independent assessment of all the proposals on the table. He has served on the board in the past, and has experience in looking at TRS investments. He has worked in the Department of education for 30 years as a teacher, and later in the UFT office, and has provided various services to union members. He has selected Ben Morgenroth as his alternate. Ben can provide much needed knowledge of finance and investing. He previously worked as a qualitative analyst evaluating investment risk and performance. He holds degrees in mathematics and in economics, and is currently a Math teacher in the DOE.
Tom Brown is also a candidate. He is the nominated candidate of Michael Mulgrew and the UFT. He was a Spanish teacher for 29 years, a chapter leader, and pension consultant. He has been on the TRS board for 12 years.
Frank Panebianco is also a TRS candidate. He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and education and a master’s degree in environmental studies. He has been a fifth grade teacher, a chapter leader, a UFT delegate, and pension consultant. We must ensure that the election is run according to the city codes. The election has strict rules guiding how it will be run. These codes state the staff members will be allowed time to review candidates credentials. The city codes state” a meeting for the discussion of the merits of the various candidates for teacher member of the retirement board, the principal or person in charge… shall call a meeting not more than five and no less than two school days prior to the election. The election must be held on the second Wednesday of May. Paper ballots should be used and marked in secret. There are specific procedures outlined in the city codes. (open link)
The election cannot be run by chapter leaders, it must be run by administration as the TRS Board is a NYC funded position.
Don’t waste this opportunity! Ask about the election in your school, how it will be administered, and the candidates running in the election. Your pension depends on it!