Tom Mooney (educator)
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Tom Mooney (September 12, 1954 - December 3, 2006) was an American labor leader and public school teacher.
Mooney had also been president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers since 2000. He had previously been president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, Local 1520 of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), AFL-CIO, from 1979 to 2000.
Mooney grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated with a bachelor's degree from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1972. Mooney began his career as an educator teaching high school government in Cincinnati, Ohio, and quickly became active in the AFT local affiliate there.
In 1990, Mooney was elected a vice president of the AFT. He served on the AFT's executive council, the governing body of the national union, and in 1998 became part of the council's executive committee—a body of executive council members close to the president of the AFT, which advises the president and debates and formulates policy before bringing it to the council. On the executive council, Mooney served on the human rights and community relations, organizing, and affiliate accountability committees. He was also chair of the "program and policy council" for the union's teacher division.
Mooney was member of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and the Albert Shanker Institute. He was also a founding member of the Teacher Union Reform Network.
Mooney was married to Debbie Schneider, who lives in Washington and works for the Service Employees International Union as the director of Global Organizing Partnerships. They had a daughter, Leilah Mooney. Tom had a son, Ruairi Rhodes, from his first marriage to Virginia Rhodes. Tom's mother, Marguerite Mooney, and his late father, Don Mooney Sr., had three other children, Don Mooney Jr. and Tina Mooney, both living in Cincinnati, and Lee Mooney, of Philadelphia.
Mooney had a reputation as an articulate and aggressive labor union activist, and he frequently clashed with school district administrators. He was a vocal critic of charter schools, and an advocate of teacher professionalism and education reform.
Mooney died of a heart attack at his home in Columbus, Ohio.
[edit] References
- Kemme, Steve. "Teachers' advocate dies." Cincinnati Enquirer. December 4, 2006. [1]
- "OFT Mourns the Sudden Death of President Tom Mooney." Accessed Dec. 4, 2006 [2]
