By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
Sep 26, 2019 at 6:42 PM
“It’s a loss to the whole labor movement,” said George Nee, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. “She had a fierce loyalty to her members but she was also a champion for public education because she understood its importance to democracy.”
PROVIDENCE — Marcia B. Reback, a tough negotiator and former president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, died of cancer early Thursday. She was 74.
Reback, who lived on Providence’s East Side, was a fearless champion of labor at a time when very few women led state unions.
“She truly was a trailblazer,” said Colleen Callahan, director of professional issues at the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers. “She was a very strong woman, and a brilliant woman.”
The Providence Journal once called her one of labor’s bulldogs, but labor leaders said she was so much more than that. At a time when teacher unions were focused mostly on working conditions, Reback recognized that supporting teacher skills was equally as important.
She is credited with fighting for early-childhood education, helping draft the first charter-school law and working to establish a state funding formula for schools.
Reback took a big risk when she endorsed the state’s $75-million Race to the Top application and urged her locals to follow suit — support that was key to Rhode Island’s winning the federal grant.
Reback was also instrumental in resolving a nationally publicized breakdown between teachers and school leaders in Central Falls 10 years ago. Then-Supt. Frances Gallo fired every teacher at Central Falls High School after the union couldn’t agree on a plan to improve the schools. Ultimately, the teachers got their jobs back. They also gave administrators unprecedented authority to make changes.
Reback was well-known on the national stage, serving as vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and a member of its executive committee, where she was a respected source of knowledge on issues such as class size, all-day kindergarten and teacher quality.
Read the rest of the piece here.