During the gubernatorial campaign, I was very critical of activities at the Teacher Retirement System board, which included ignoring the recommendations of TRS’s outside adviser as well as the staff. An AP story that ran in the Star-Telegram today reports: The investment team that achieved a nearly 13 percent return for the pension system benefiting Texas teachers will share $9.7 million in performance bonuses. The $104 billion Teacher Retirement System of Texas turned in the best one-year performance among the nation’s largest public pension funds as of Sept. 30, the Austin American-Statesman reported for its Friday editions. The fund had a 12.6 percent one-year return, according to figures released Thursday by the pension system. The $104 billion Teacher Retirement System of Texas turned in the best one-year performance among the nation’s largest public pension funds as of Sept. 30, according to an independent comparison of trust funds. During the gubernatorial campaign, I wrote several posts that were critical of TRS management, based on a whistleblower’s memo. While the memo detailed numerous problems at TRS, including favoritism toward funds controlled by political supporters of Governor Perry, the results cannot be ignored. Whatever problems may have existed at TRS, the fact is that a 12.6% rate of return and the best performance of any public pension fund absolves a lot of sins. TRS is obviously on the right course. I applaud the results and withdraw my criticism.