Who Am I?

 

One of my favorite quotes from Mahatma Gandhi is, “Be the change you would like to see in the world”.  I must admit, that those are more than words for me.  Those words speak to a way of life and embodied my leadership focus while a Principal in Atlanta Public Schools. I am relentless in my pursuit to raise the standards for the education of children living in poverty. I had high expectations for myself and my staff, but contrary to what was communicated in the media, it was not to boost test scores, but to ensure that every child under my care had an environment conducive for learning, they received the best possible education, and that each student received a strong academic foundation that would capture their hearts and minds to ensure they would graduate from high school and then college. My goal for every student at Dobbs was to ensure they had access to the necessary educational resources that would enhance opportunities that would lead to a better life.

 

In 2010, when this investigation began, I was a successful educator. During my more than 20 total years in education and prior to these allegations, I enjoyed a wonderful record without a single write-up, disciplinary action, ethical complaint or an accusation of misconduct. The charges and subsequent barrage of media attacks significantly misrepresent who I am as a person and who I was as an educator.

 

Education

 

My education and subsequent academic scores exemplify my belief that with concentrated effort, confidence and hard work, the seemingly impossible becomes possible. I am the first person in my immediate family to earn a college degree. I earned a Ph.D. from Mercer University and graduated with a 3.9 grade point average (GPA), a Master’s Degree from the University of Pittsburgh with a 3.85 GPA, an Educational Leadership Certificate from the University of Georgia with a 4.0 GPA, and a Bachelor’s degree from California University of Pennsylvania. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), have an E-Learning Instructional Design Certification and I was a certified Childbirth Educator.

 

Relevant Experience

 

I worked for 18 years in the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) as a Guidance Counselor, Instructional Specialist and Principal.  During my tenure in APS, I completed the Superintendent’s Academy for Building Leaders in Education (SABLE) and the Georgia Department of Education’s "Institute for New Leaders".  Prior to working in APS, I worked as a teacher with students in an alternative education program.  I was a Team Leader of an outreach program geared towards women’s health issues with a focus on infant mortality, and I was a Coordinator of a program in urban high schools designed to enhance opportunities for first generation students to matriculate to post-secondary education. 

 

In June 2007, I worked at one of the highest performing middle schools in Georgia, Inman Middle School. The school was located in one of the wealthiest areas in Atlanta.  This was a racially diverse school but the area demographics was predominantly white and affluent people. I worked at Inman for 12 years. I had a blemish free record, never been reprimanded nor admonished in reference to my job performance, never been accused or found in violation of cheating, testing errors, matters of irregularity or unsatisfactory performance. During those years at Inman Middle School, I was a Guidance Counselor and then became the Instructional Specialist. As the Guidance Counselor, I was awarded the recognition of Guidance Counselor of the Year for the entire school District. I was also awarded “The Soaring Eagle Award” from the parents and administration at Inman. I would later come to know that in this investigation an exemplary history did not matter.

 

 

We were all categorized in one large group, like cattle, with little regard for who we were as individuals; it was decided we were guilty and that was the way it was. This was also true in court during the trial.

 

In July 2007, I was promoted to a principal position and moved to Dobbs Elementary School.  I moved to a predominately black, economically disadvantaged school and one month after leaving the affluent school with honors and a respectable reputation, I was called by the Governors Investigators, The District Attorney’s office and many Atlanta media outlets a liar, cheater and thief. I was the same person that worked at “the other school”, the only thing that changed was the zip code that I worked in, the racial makeup of the school and the economic status of the community.

 

There is no doubt in my mind that if I would have stayed at the affluent school I would not have been indicted. One of the sad and discouraging facts of this case is that there were no people of other nationalities indicted nor in court on trial even though there some who also had high erasures.  There were no educators from any of the affluent schools…only black (African American) from economically disadvantaged schools.

 

Unfortunately, there are disturbing and glaring common characteristics of the schools impacted by the Georgia CRCT Investigation:

1. All African American Educators. I personally had teachers at Dobbs that were non-black whose classes were flagged but none were indicted or fired.

2. Schools represented were disproportionately disadvantaged with high mobility rates, primarily African American students living below the poverty guidelines. 

 

A Shifting Paradigm

Teacher Focused to Competency Based Focus

 

Moving to Dobbs was a complete paradigm shift.  Although challenging, my children at Dobbs were amazing and I loved them.  I found them to be eager to learn and receptive to changes that created a more structured, engaged learning environment.  Dobbs had more than 95% free and reduced lunch rate and a higher than 40% mobility rate, but in spite of those alarming demographic variables and the inherent conditions that aligns with them, we managed to prevail and make the seemingly impossible, possible – a school of high academic standards. We worked tirelessly to provide the students at Dobbs with the quality of education and resources they deserve - the very best; the same quality of education that existed in the economically advantaged schools I worked in previously. The focus shifted from teacher focused to student focused and from what we intended to teach to what students were actually learning.

​

The three teachers that cheated at Dobbs hid cheating from me. How then can I be guilty of a “conspiracy” when the teachers that cheated admittedly hid their actions from me?”

“All Children Can Learn”

​

Our theme for three years was “Growing Greatness”, and I worked to instill the idea of continual growth of our students, teachers and staff. The goal was to be a better teacher, a better student, a better contributing member of our Dobbs community and the world. Below are a few accomplishments under my leadership:

• Improved academic scores (small incremental improvements)

• Increased computers in the classroom from one per class (roughly 40) to over 250 during my four years at Dobbs.

• Increased SMART boards from zero to one in every classroom.

• Developed strong instructional practices; implemented Before school/After school/ Saturday School tutoring programs for my students; I implemented a data protocol process that identified academic weaknesses for students and then allotted time during the school day to remediate.

• Provided more professional development for teachers than was ever given at Dobbs AND held staff responsible for treating children with love and teaching them as if they were their own children.

• Received Metro Chamber of Commerce Community partnership award for developing and implementing a GED program for the parents and community around the school. 

• Wrote and secured approximately a million dollar grant for an after school program and summer academy. 

• Wrote and secured approximately a $25,000 Grant for healthy fruits and vegetable snacks for students.

• Partnered with a school in Jamaica and one in Africa in which the students communicated through Skype.  Through this program, the school was given an LCD project, computer and media equipment.

 

Investigations

As a result of the CRCT investigations, as the Principal of Dobbs, I have undergone five separate investigations with: The Governors Commission, The Professional Standards Commission, Atlanta Public Schools Office of Internal Relations, Penn Payne Report and The Blue Ribbon Commission. As a matter of fact, The Governors Report indicated that teachers cheated at Dobbs prior to me becoming the Principal and after "but not under my direction".

 

Presumption of Innocence Denied

Our legal system purports that I was presumed innocent, however that right was denied me in Georgia. All investigations cleared me from participating in cheating in any way.  It’s amazing that in court, during the trial, I was found guilty without a SINGLE written piece of evidence. The DA had copies of over 16,000 emails that I wrote while a principal. Additionally, they had over 6,000 documents I created at the school. There were no emails, memos, taped audio recordings, video recordings or any other “unquestionable” documents presented as evidence; they didn’t exist.  Not one teacher reported that I told them to cheat. The three teachers that cheated at my school hid cheating from me. How then can I be guilty of a conspiracy when the teachers that cheated admittedly hid their actions from me?

 

I produced over 300 documents of evidence of the procedures I created and implemented at Dobbs which included written statements to the staff about integrity and ethics.  I was a leader that put children first and in partnership with the staff created a better learning environment at Dobbs. This message was also repeated again and again in the news with little substantive data to support it. Below is an excerpt from an email I sent to a reporter with the Atlanta Journal and Constitution (AJC) disputing these slanderous and untrue claims. I also attached to this email approximately 20 documents with evidence of the support provided to Dobbs students (before, after-school tutorial, extended learning groups, individual tutoring etc.). They unfortunately have not been interested in reporting a fair and unbiased story.

Dear Mr. Tagami,

I recently read the article written by you on April 5, 2015. Until my conviction I have been unable to respond to the onslaught of incomplete, incorrect and totally untrue accounts of the APS Cheating Investigation and subsequent trial in the media. I feel compelled to respond to the incomplete stories as they have and continue to affect me personally, professionally and legally. This, I believe, is one of the reasons it was impossible to have a fair trial. Your story entitled “The Real Victim” omitted out pertinent information that I know your organization to be aware of because an AJC representative was in the courtroom daily.

 

You wrote, “Inflated test scores masked academic failure that went unaddressed as students were pushed from one grade to the next and then out into the community”.  One of the misconceptions that you as well as your newspaper continues to tell the general public is that a single CRCT score could determine the level of support received at the school level. This is not true at Dobbs.  I respectfully ask you to stop saying this when referencing my school as it is absolutely false.  It is intentionally misleading and egregiously misrepresents my efforts to ensure that the students at Dobbs received the same quality of education that students in affluent neighborhoods received.

 

As per the testimony of the 14 teachers from Dobbs (these teachers classes were not flagged and they are in good standing with the District) it’s untrue that students were recommended to receive additional support solely based on a CRCT score. Each year during the first week of school students were given diagnostic assessments in each core area to determine their level of functioning. Teachers used that to determine who needed additional support. As the year progressed the teachers used the data from their assessments, class work, common assessments given at the school etc. The fallacy that students didn’t get help and were passed on a lie…. I implemented more interventions at Dobbs than I ever did at Inman. I dare you to compare the support students received at Dobbs to ANY high performing school in Georgia. I would love to be part of that article.