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Barbara L. Toles was sworn in to the Wisconsin State Assembly on January 27, 2004 after winning a special election to represent the 17th Assembly District with 80% of the vote. Prior to being elected, she worked at the Milwaukee Area Technical College as a Community Outreach Coordinator and an Adjunct Faculty Member. Her 25 year career in education enabled her to help hundreds of people realize their potential and acheive their goals.

Representative Toles was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she attended Milwaukee Public Schools. After graduation from West Division High School, she continued her education at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Work. She then completed her Master's Degree in Education at Marquette University.

She first became interested in government when she became involved with the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County. After serving as Voter Service Chair and President, she embraced the opportunity to serve her community as a lawmaker in the Legislature. She understands the important issues facing citizens in her district such as the need for quality education, family supporting jobs, and affordable health care.

Representative Toles feels strongly about improving the quality of life for people in her community. In 2006, she won the NAACP Theme Award, "Voting our Values/Valuing our Votes," and he currently serves on the Wisconsin Donor Network Advisory Board. In 2008 her legislation to end the practice of paying Milwaukee police officers after they had been fired for just cause was signed into law. Before this change in law, officers who had been terminated stayed on payroll until they exhausted their appeals with the Fire and Police Commussion. For some, the process took years and officers collected thousands of dollars in pay and benefits after they had been fired. At the time of passage, the City of Milwaukee had paid out over $4.4 million to fired officers since 1990. This money can now be put toward important services for the people of Milwaukee instead.