About me
Michael Tapia served as a principal in in the Ventura Unified School District from 2006-2015. Prior to serving as an administrator, he taught at the elementary level for 26 years in Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties.
During his teaching and administrative career, Michael has been a committed advocate of all children but especially children of poverty, students of color, English Learners, and other marginalized students.
Michael has a B.A. in Child Development from Whittier College, M. A. in Educational Administration from CSU Northridge and is a BCLAD holder.
Since retiring in June 2015, he has served as an adjunct professor at Cal Lutheran University (CLU) in the Teaching and Learning Department and as a CLU Fieldwork Supervisor for teacher candidates. He has remained active in ACSA as a retired Emeritus member at the charter, region, and state levels. Along with his partner of 42 years, Steven Bailey, he has more recently focused on providing professional development to educators in their efforts to support the needs of LGBTQIA+ students, families, and staff. Of the various forms of recognition he has received over his career, Michael is most proud of receiving the Elementary Teacher of the Year for Santa Barbara County (1997) the ACSA Valuing Diversity Award (2012) and Leadership Matters Award most recently in 2023. He and Steven were honored to receive the Vanguard Award from Diversity Collective Ventura County in 2019 for their decades of advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQIA+ community.
