NATION : Former Reagan Teacher Dies

Helen Foreman, who taught biology to Ronald Reagan and criticized his presidency more than 60 years later, has died at age 86.

Foreman, the former mayor of Jacksonville, died Sunday after a brief illness.

She began a public service career teaching school in Dixon in 1925. Among her top biology students at the high school was a boy named Ronald Reagan.

In 1987, the two were both active in government and held political office. Friends said it was obvious that she was not a fan of Reagan because she had criticized him for vetoing a water quality proposal and other legislation that would have helped Jacksonville.

Foreman pushed for civil rights, the environment and increased recycling during her five-year tenure as one of the nation’s oldest mayors. She left public office in 1989.