How Pa. teachers’ pensions fit into the feud between Oz, McCormick

Pennsylvania’s $72 billion teacher pension fund and its investment strategies are at the center of a new war of words between GOP Senate hopefuls Mehmet Oz and David McCormick. 

Stories about the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System, known as PSERS, and its penchant for offbeat investments — from Iraqi oil fields to prison phone calls — and globe-trotting travel have raised teachers’ and good government advocates’ ire for the past few years. 

Meanwhile, a financial misstep last year means almost 100,000 teachers are paying extra to the fund to cover a poor performance...