Joe Louis Clark

Joe Louis Clark (born May 7, 1938 in Rochelle, Georgia) is the former principal of Eastside High School in Paterson, one of New Jersey's toughest inner city schools. He is also the subject of the 1989 film Lean on Me, starring Morgan Freeman. Clark gained public attention in the 1980s for his unconventional and controversial disciplinary measures as the principal of Eastside High. Clark was seen as an educator who was not afraid to get tough on difficult students, one who would often carry a bullhorn or a baseball bat at school. During his time as principal, Clark expelled 300 students who were frequently tardy or absent from school. Clark's practices did result in slightly higher average test scores for Eastside High during the 1980s. After his tenure as principal of Eastside High, Clark later served as director of the Essex County Detention House in Newark, New Jersey, a juvenile detention facility. He currently resides in Newberry, Florida.

He also partly inspired Denzel Washington's character in the film Hard Lessons about contemporary Los Angeles high school principal George McKenna.

Clark is also the father of Olympic track athletes Joetta Clark Diggs and Hazel Clark, and the father-in-law of Olympic track athlete Jearl Miles Clark.

Time magazine's cover article notes that Clark's style as principal was primarily disciplinarian in nature, focused on encouraging school pride and good behavior, although Clark was also portrayed as a former social activist in the film Lean on Me. "Clark's use of force may rid the school of unwanted students," commented Boston principal Thomas P. O'Neill Jr., "but he also may be losing kids who might succeed." George McKenna, former principal of Washington Preparatory High School in Los Angeles, often cited as a contemporary of Joe Clark as a school reformer with a similarly outgoing approach, was also critical. "Our role is to rescue and to be responsible," McKenna told Time. "If the students were not poor black children, Joe Clark would not be tolerated."

...
Wikipedia