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CalSTRS board hears member complaints as officials report BenefitConnect stabilization progress
Summary
CalSTRS trustees received an update showing operational improvements since BenefitConnect went live and heard public comments describing persistent delays and communication failures; staff said callback identification, added hires and targeted fixes have reduced return calls and improved timely payments but call volumes and staffing fatigue remain concerns.
Trustees of the California State Teachers' Retirement Board heard an operational update on BenefitConnect and member service on the board's May agenda and received public comment describing continuing service problems.
Chief Benefits Officer Jeff Zimmer told trustees the contact center has answered substantially more calls in recent months and that process and branding changes reduced return-callbacks from 26% to 14%. He said abandoned-call rates have decreased but remain “too high,” and that survivor-benefit payments have risen (more than 2,000 payments issued in May). Zimmer said staffing increases are underway with additional waves of hires starting in June and July and that many of the new positions are limited-term to cover stabilization. “We have answered more calls per month. Our call wait time has decreased — to be totally honest: it's gone from really not great to not great, but it has gotten better,” he said.
Board members pressed staff on communication to members and whether extra hires would be temporary. Trustee Sharon Hendricks and others asked how the system is being used to divert routine inquiries to self-service channels. Staff said they are adding static information on CalSTRS.com, improving IVR prompt content and branding callbacks so members recognize incoming calls from CalSTRS, while continuing to fix system defects that generate repeat contacts.
Public commenter Julie Johnson, a CalSTRS member with nearly 40 years in K–12 and higher education, described multiple difficulties in her retirement process: repeated website problems that forced a paper application, delays in message-center replies, and a direct-deposit problem that required “additional hours on the phone and emailed” to resolve and only produced a first deposit on May 1, 2026. “In my opinion this treatment is unacceptable for our educators who have served and paid into STRS for years,” she said, and offered to volunteer on committees to help improve service.
Trustees also heard in-person remarks from Leonard Goldberg, a long-serving CTA and United Teachers Los Angeles representative who is retiring after 38 years; he praised staff and trustees for their work and thanked the board.
The board did not take formal action on BenefitConnect at the meeting; staff said stabilization and the contact-center metrics will remain a standing item in the CEO report while hires and system fixes continue. Trustees requested continued updates and additional detail on communications and staffing plans.
