Josephine Baker – Bio

Executive Director, DC Public Charter School Board (2002 - 2011)

Josephine Baker led the public charter school sector in Washington, DC through the peak of its growth and development from 1997 to 2011.

She was appointed as a founding member of the DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB), elected as its first chair in 1997, and served as executive director from 2002 - 2011. Josephine Baker has also served as a founding member and chair of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. In 2009, she was inducted into the National Charter Schools Hall of Fame. Baker retired from twenty-five years of teaching in DC Public Schools, just as DC’s charter law was enacted. Baker documented the story of the impact of DC's public charter school sector in her book, The Evolution and Revolution of DC Charter Schools.