Patricia E. Baker Scholarship

About Pat Baker

Patricia E. Baker (1947-2009) served as staff attorney, senior legal counsel and associate executive director/general counsel of the Kansas Association of School Boards for 30 years. She was a champion for public education and a driving force behind the development of the NSBA Council of School Attorneys where she served on the board for 11 years and as chair in 1989-90.

She received her J.D. with Dean’s Honors from Washburn University School of Law and served as an adjunct professor of law at Washburn for more than 15 years. Pat’s passion for education law, dedication to the education of others in the profession, and advocacy for public schools and the children they serve will be long remembered.
Purpose of the Scholarship

To honor Pat’s legacy and her contributions to the field of education law, KASB asked the NSBA Council of School Attorneys (COSA) to partner with the association to administer an annual scholarship in Pat’s name. The scholarship allows a member of COSA who could not normally attend due to financial hardship to attend the annual School Law Seminar. The scholarship fund was started with a generous endowment from KASB, the Baker family and COSA members.

The scholarship recipient will be known as the “Baker Fellow” in the year that they receive the award and will receive a complimentary registration and travel assistance so that they can attend the School Law Seminar held in conjunction with NSBA’s Annual Conference and Exposition.  Travel assistance may include: airfare, 2 nights hotel, and reimbursement of actual and reasonable out of pocket expenses incurred in compliance with NSBA’s travel reimbursement policy.  Scholarship winners must book travel directly with NSBA. 

Eligibility and Award Criteria–Eligible individuals:
  1. Must be an attorney representing public school districts and a member in good standing with their state attorneys’ council and COSA
  2. Must submit a complete application for the scholarship to COSA by the appropriate deadline
  3. Must demonstrate financial hardship, i.e. they could not otherwise attend the School Law Seminar
  4. Must demonstrate a passion for school law and the development of the profession
  5. Must demonstrate a commitment to “excellent and equity” for  public school children and be an advocate for public education
  6. Must demonstrate professional leadership
Application Process and Deadline

Applicants for the scholarship must complete the COSA scholarship application [AVAILABLE HERE] and send it, along with a current CV to: 
KASB/NSBA Patricia E. Baker Scholarship 
c/o NSBA Council of School Attorneys
1680 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314.  

Applications for the 2012-2013 scholarship must be postmarked by Sept. 1, 2012 .  Applications may also be sent by e-mail to Susan R. Butler, COSA Director at sbutler@nsba.org or by fax at 703-548-5613.

A committee, appointed by the COSA chair, will review applications and COSA staff will notify the scholarship winner by October 1, 2012. Scholarship winners must make travel arrangements through NSBA.