Joe Clark was a non-traditional high school principal, whose unusual way of carrying out rules became the subject of a 1989 Hollywood movie. He gained national attention for his leadership at Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey.
"You are not inferior." is what Clark would often tell his students, many of whom were African American or Latino. They grew up in a difficult environment and faced violence, drugs and troubled family life which could prevent them from succeeding in school and in life.
Before becoming an educator, Clark served in the U.S. Amy Reserve. His experience might have influenced how he ran his school. He was known to walk around with a bull horn and a baseball bat. In Clark's first days of working, he expelled 300 students for breaking school rules. The students who remained at school believed that higher expectations were being placed on them. They felt more pressure to perform better.
Some praised his efforts at discipline while others criticized his methods. President Ronald Reagan offered Clark a White House policy adviser position after his success at the high school. In 1988, one teacher, said his methods were more like being in a labor camp than a public high school. In 1989, actor Morgan Freeman played Clark in the movie "Lean on Me." That movie was based on Clark's experiences at Eastside. "Joe was a father figure to school kid," Freeman said. "He was the best of the best in terms of education." Recently, one of Joe Clark's former students, Thomas McEntyre said, "I never really got a chance to... thank him. We are your product. You did not fail us. No matter whether you kicked me out, you did not fail me. You bettered me."
After he retired from Eastside in 1989, Clark wrote a book called "Laying Down the Law: Joe Clark's Strategy for Saving Our Schools." He described how he managed to turn Eastside High from a failing school into a success.
