SLIPPERY ROCK Educator: Economic gaps hurt pupils

Joe Clark was portrayed in the Warner Bros. film 'Lean on Me.'
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Economics, not race, is the discriminating factor that keeps some of America's children in substandard schools while others receive a quality education, says an educator who achieved national fame for his reform effort at a New Jersey high school.
Joe Clark spoke to a group of high school and college students, educators and community members during a free lecture Wednesday at Slippery Rock University. He shared his thoughts with a Vindicator reporter before his SRU appearance.
"I really have not seen the type of academic growth I would like to see, especially in your depressed areas ... in our inner cities, in our rural areas, anywhere you have the needy, the downtrodden, the poor," said Clark, who has been giving motivational speeches for 15 years.
Clark, a former Army drill instructor, took over as principal at the Eastside High School in Paterson, N.J., in 1984. He vowed to change operations and student behavior at the raucous school. Two years after he began, he was named one of the country's 10 "Principals of Leadership," and Eastside High was dubbed a "model school" by the state's governor.
The Warner Bros. movie "Lean on Me," starring Morgan Freeman, was based on Clark's experience at Eastside, and he has appeared in Time magazine and on CBS' "60 Minutes."
His review of the movie: "They downplayed me. I was a much more galvanizing force, ... unflappable, never giving in except to convictions of honor and common sense."
School choice
Although Clark supports public education, he said the gap won't change unless parents -- in all types of communities -- are given a choice. Public education, he added, is the only monopoly in the country.
"That's antithetical to democracy," he said. "I'm deeply saddened to know that these minds, coming out of bastions of mediocrity, are turning out students who will be unable to compete in our society."
He said parents should have choice within public schools and without, including more charter-school options, vouchers and tax credits, and home schooling.
"If alternate schools and schools of choice are good enough for the elitists in our society -- the rich, the wealthy, the well-to-do -- they also should be offered to the needy, the downtrodden, in our communities," he added.
Clark supports affirmative action and preferential treatment -- based on financial need.
"Whether they're black, white, polka dot or whatever, those in the doldrums need to be lifted up," he said.
Turning around tough schools means getting tough, Clark said.
"Hoodlums and thugs must be removed. That is the No. 1 priority," he said.
Such students, even in minuscule amounts, prevent the education of students begging to learn and become competitive in their future worlds, he explained.
Clark attended William Paterson College, Seton Hall University, Columbia University and Rutgers University. He also wrote the book "Laying Down the Law."
Change won't come about without "internal combustion," Clark said.
"A key factor ... is the tenacity, the persistence to demand that the family and the community begin to play a critical role in ensuring that the educational process is a successful process by getting them involved at every level," he explained.