What made him a good educator? Classrooms are at their most effective when intelligent discourse is occurring and all parties are actively involved. At the opening of Lean on Me, Joe Clarks classroom was depicted as the model for student involvement and active learning. Students participated in a relay race; first to ring the bell at the front of the room could answer a U.S. government question for +10 points. Clarks jovial attitude and frantic game-style review created a palpable sense of fun and spontaneity that kept every student engaged. Students and fellow faculty couldnt help but beam admiration from their faces. What made him a bad educator? Joe Clarks move from teacher to principal felt more like a hostile takeover than a promotion. In his first day as head administrator of Eastside High School, Clark expelled over 100 students on stage at a school assembly. Not content with his first show of power, Clark then threatened to expel any student who did not meet the Basic Skills Test requirements by the end of the term. This method of clearing the books in order to juke a schools stats is hardly new. It isnt solving a problem, simply renegotiating the terms. Clarks worst offenses occurred when he dragged freshman Thomas Sams to the roof the school in an attempt to scare him straight. He proceeded to jam his finger into the side of Sams head repeatedly, shouted swears in his face, and then insisted that the boy jump off the roof and kill himself. The behavior is cruel and borderline sociopathic. It should come as no surprise when, toward the end of the film, Clark was arrested for literally chaining all of the doors in the school shut to prevent ditching. When Clark inquires about the charge of his arrest, the Chief of Police replied that it was definitely a fire code violation, but also mostly for being an a$$hole.
