Yukon Rep Elected To Southern States Education Committee

Oklahoma City OK

02 July, 2021

3:29 PM

Description

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Representative Rhonda Baker, (R-Yukon) has been elected vice chair of the Education Committee of the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC). Baker, a former teacher, currently serves as the chair of the House Common Education committee. "What an honor to be elected by my national peers to be vice chair of this important committee," Baker said. "Oklahoma has made enormous strides in recent years in funding education and crafting reforms to help improve student outcomes. I look forward to sharing our work with other legislators and learning from their experience as well." Based in Atlanta, the SLC is part of the nation Council of State Governments and represents the nation's 15 southeastern states. As vice chair of the Education Committee, Baker will assist the committee's chair, South Carolina Sen. Greg Hembree in guiding the committee's policy focus and projects, including programming for the 76th Annual Meeting which is scheduled to be held in Oklahoma City, in July 2022. Recent policy issues addressed by the committee include assessing learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, project-based learning, increasing access to school-based health centers, and an analysis of school counselor legislation in the Southern states. In 2017, Baker completed the SLC's Center for the Advancement of Leadership Skills program, the South's premier professional development program for elected and appointed Southern state officials. Prior to being elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 2016 Baker was a middle school English teacher, spending nearly two decades in the profession at the middle school, high school and collegiate level. Baker was appointed to serve as chair of the House Common Education Committee while she was a freshman lawmaker. In addition she is a member of the House Appropriations & Budget Subcommittee for Education, a member of the House full Appropriations & Budget Committee and serves as an assistant majority floor leader. Rep. Baker is a graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma with a bachelor's degree in Communications and a master's degree in Education.