The University of Miami School of Education and Human Development mourns the passing of Dr. Rosa Castro Feinberg, PhD, a trailblazing educator, scholar, and advocate whose work at UM helped expand educational opportunity for English Language Learners across Miami-Dade County and the nation. She passed away on January 23, 2026, at the age of 86.
Dr. Feinberg earned her doctorate in Educational Administration from the University of Miami, and her connection to UM ran deeper than a degree. During the early to mid-1980s, she served as Director of the National Origin Desegregation (LAU) Center at UM, leading research and policy work that positioned the university as a hub for bilingual education advocacy at a critical moment in the nation's history. Her time at UM placed her at the center of debates about language rights, civil rights, and educational equity, and she carried that foundation throughout a career that spanned more than fifty years.
“She was instrumental in helping school districts throughout the country, but especially here in Florida, understand and implement national-origin-based strategies, including consent decrees, that flowed out of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1974 Lau v. Nichols decision,” Dr. Walter Secada said, Professor, UM School of Education and Human Development. “Her center helped school districts throughout the State of Florida, and especially the Miami-Dade and Broward County Public School systems, meet the terms of the 1990 Florida State consent decrees.”
After her tenure at UM, Dr. Feinberg broke historic ground when Miami-Dade County School Board Chair Mari Tere Rojas recognized her as the first Hispanic woman appointed to the Miami-Dade County School Board in 1986. She won election to the seat in 1988 and served until 1996. During a period when the district saw significant growth in its Hispanic student population, she used that platform to transform policy. She championed bilingual education, drove the expansion of bilingual program access across the district, eliminated corporal punishment in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and played a key role in establishing single-member districting for school board elections.
Her influence extended far beyond the boardroom. Dr. Feinberg served as Associate Professor in the College of Education at Florida International University and as a classroom teacher in Gadsden, Leon, and Miami-Dade Counties, teaching ESOL, Spanish, and Language Arts. She helped shape the landmark 1990 League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Consent Decree, a policy milestone that strengthened academic protections and expanded opportunities for English Language Learners across the district.
On the national stage, Dr. Feinberg testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, contributed to the White House Initiative on Excellence in Education for Hispanics, and served on committees within the U.S. Department of Education’s offices of Civil Rights and Bilingual Education. In 2011, she served as an expert witness before a U.S. District Court examining whether grouping English Language Learners by language proficiency constitutes illegal racial segregation, drawing on her years of field experience and service on the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Board to argue that such grouping serves instructional purposes and does not violate the law. She consulted internationally on minority inclusion programs in Guatemala, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Spain. In 2019, the Mexican Government recognized her contributions to its diaspora with the prestigious Ohtli Award at the National Association of Bilingual Education Conference.
She authored a comprehensive reference handbook on bilingual education that continues to serve researchers and practitioners in the field. In 2023, she co-founded ASPIRA of the Mid-Atlantic, remaining active in its leadership until her final days.
“Rosa Castro Feinberg was a presence in the old school sense of the word. When she spoke, everyone in the room listened because what she had to say rested not just on her knowledge of the law and of research, but on years of practical experience to back up her words,” Dr. Walter Secada said, Professor, UM School of Education and Human Development. “Even people who opposed her advocacy of bilingual education listened to her because she forced them to be clearer in their own positions.”
Dr. Feinberg is survived by her son, Lincoln Jones. The Miami-Dade County School Board formally honored her legacy at its February 11, 2026 meeting.
