Mooney grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated with a bachelor"s degree from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1974. Tom"s mother, Marguerite Mooney, and his late father, Don Mooney Senior, had three other children, Don Mooney Junior. and Tina Mooney, both living in Cincinnati, and Lee Mooney, of Philadelphia.
Antioch College; Antioch University.
Family
Early career
Mooney began his career as an educator teaching high school government in Cincinnati, Ohio, and quickly became active in the American Federation of Teachers local affiliate there. Union work
Mooney was elected President of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, Local 1520 of the AFT, American Federation of Labor-Congress-Chief Information Officer, at age 24, was re-elected many times, serving from 1979 to 2000. 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. In 2000 he became president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.
Mooney"s approach to teacher unionism emphasized the union"s role as the professional voice of teachers. As chair of the AFT"s Professional Issues Committee, Mooney remained focused on the classroom teacher"s perspective and voice.
He believed the union must lead reform, collaborate with the administration whenever possible, engage the adversaries of public education, but always put forward a strong teachers" voice, with bold ideas.
Mooney had a reputation as an articulate, aggressive, and progressive labor union activist. He frequently clashed with school district administrators over his bold ideas. He was a vocal critic of charter schools, and an advocate of teacher professionalism and education reform.
He brought lessons from the much more political teacher union movements in other countries to inspire union leaders in the United States to build social movements and connect with broader movements for social change.
Mooney was member of the Board of Directors 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 (TURN) and of what was renamed in his honor, the Mooney Institute for Teacher and Union Leadership.
