2/03/26 Press Release

The Aspira Mid Atlantic Board of Directors is saddened to mourn the passing of its Charter and Founding member, Dr. Rosa Castro Feinberg, PhD. Dr. Feinberg passed away on January 23, 2026, at the age of 86. Dr. Feinberg is survived by her son, Lincoln Jones.

Dr. Feinberg was recognized for her passionate advocacy for equity, immigrants, and minority language learners in the United States. At the heart of her professional efforts was the search for the empowerment of minority language learners through educational support. Her lifelong legacy is nationally and internationally recognized for her unceasing search focusing on providing minority language learner access to cultural integration and survival.

She held career appointments as Associate Professor in the College of Education at Florida International University; a teacher in Gadsen, Leon, and Dade Counties (ESOL, Spanish, and Language Arts); and as Director of the National Origin Desegregation (LAU) Center at the University of Miami. She integrated the skill set, knowledge, and experience gained into a coherent belief system that focused on providing access to US education for minority language learners. This became manifest in each of the career roles she undertook which led to policy development, program delivery, and hands-on teaching.

It is noteworthy that Dr. Feinberg became the first Hispanic woman to be elected to the Miami Dade County School Board, 1986-1996. Her tenure on the Board took place during a time when there was a significant increase in Hispanic students seeking education. As a member of the Miami Dade County School Board, she brought to the fore a public understanding of the need for bilingual education. Her advocacy on the Board gained the support of her colleagues focusing on increasing opportunities for students to participate in bilingual programs. She was instrumental in bringing single-member districting to Dade County School Board elections. As a champion for students, Dr. Feinberg promoted and obtained the elimination of corporal punishment in Miami Dade County Public Schools, ever the advocate for student equity and welfare.

Over a life-long span of more than fifty years, Dr. Feinberg served on State and National Boards each leading to a timely intervention in furtherance of equity, inclusion, and access through educational support for minority students in the United States. Salient among these were: Member of the Florida Post-Secondary Planning Commission; Trustee of the Public Broadcasting System; an Official of the Hispanic legislative group of the Hispanic Caucus for the National School Board Association; Member of the National Coalition of Advocates for Students; Member of the Florida State Task Force on Bilingual Education; Member of the Florida State Task Force on Multicultural Education; Member of the National Conference of Puerto Rican Women; and Member of the Board and Executive Committee of the Spanish American League against Discrimination. She provided testimony before the US Commission on Civil Rights and for the national White House Initiative on Excellence in Education for Hispanics, and was a Member of Board of Directors of ASPIRA of Florida. 

Internationally, Dr. Feinberg’s expertise led to consultancies on minority inclusion supported by the US Department of Education to Guatemala, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Spain. She was the recipient of numerous awards including the prestigious Ohtli award by the Mexican Government for service rendered to its diaspora. This was awarded at the National Association of Bilingual Conference in 2019. In her role as a publicist, she focused on creating an awareness of the need to support limited English proficiency students through policy development and most importantly for the preparation of educators as policy advocates. She also authored a compendium on Bilingual Education (Reference Handbook) which is a stalwart for those seeking to research this topic area.

Dr. Feinberg held a PhD in Educational Administration from the University of Miami, an MA in in Supervision and Curriculum, and a BA in Humanities and Language Education, both from Florida State University.

Dr. Feinberg was the Charter and Founding member of ASPIRA Mid-Atlantic established in 2023. On January 23, 2026 just as the ASPIRA Mid-Atlantic Board meeting was scheduled to take place it was noted that Dr. Feinberg was in absentia. The Board proceeded with the meeting. One of the Board members attempted to get ahold of her. She did answer the phone, there was a garbled communication, and then the line went dead. The Board proceeded with the meeting; there was a long agenda. That same evening, after the meeting there were numerous attempts to speak with her by phone and there was no response. The next day, a member of her extended family called and informed us that she had passed away. In fact, that garbled moment on the previous day may have been her last moment alive while attempting to access the meeting. She was committed to the people and work she did until her last moment.

Dr. Feinberg left a legacy of commitment to limited English proficiency students which is shared by the members of the Board of Directors of ASPIRA Mid-Atlantic. In these uncertain times, she was skillfully guiding the Board through the pitfalls created by the changing landscape in education in the United States. More than ever, she saw the need for a continuous assessment of the funding process for education as it pertains to limited English proficiency students. Her concern was that limited English proficiency students would lack both access and support as a result of the new procedural mandates from the Federal Government. ASPIRA Mid-Atlantic shares with you her profound sense of unease with the current direction of education.

Dr. Feinberg leaves a legacy of informed activism focused on assisting the limited English proficiency students to find a pathway through educational support into the US culture and economy. She was a remarkable leader profoundly grounded in the concept of educational equity.  Her tenacity, commitment, and passion have been felt over a lifetime of transformative achievements wherein each intervention has left a profound mark in the lives of students, parents, and educators.