Tom Mooney – A Teacher First

Rethinking Schools editors mourn the loss of Tom Mooney, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, who died of a heart attack on December 3 at age 52. Several of us worked with Tom over the years, and all of us admired him. He pioneered a more expansive vision of teacher unionism, and as the longtime president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, promoted numerous initiatives that led to greater teacher involvement in school reform. Mooney was a captivating speaker, brilliant strategist, and the life of any party. His untimely death leaves a hole in the movement to link the improvement of public schools with the struggle for social justice. In the following pages we offer several remembrances of Tom Mooney. — the editors

By Bill Bigelow

Illustrator: American Federation of Teachers