Lean On Me (1989)

Morgan Freeman was the 'HNIC' (his own words) in this movie playing the role of Joe Clark - an actual educator taking back the public education system for children and their futures. The real Principal Clark is featured in the picture above. He was willing to go to extremes - like expelling 300 students whose criminal records or drugs, weapons, and violence had contaminated the schooling of the 2700 other students attending Eastside High when he arrived and chaining & locking all of the exit doors from the inside of the school to prevent their re-entrance during school hours. He instigated peer tutoring programs and raised the expectations his students had for themselves above anything that anyone in their community had ever believed them able to achieve.

The opening credits of this film are rolled to the tune of "Welcome to the Jungle" by Jon BonJovi... and a jungle is exactly what Eastside High had become. Of course, it is possible that Hollywood exaggerated the garbage and grafity to make a point even before showing the disturbing and frightening behavior of the students. "Treat them like animals and that is exactly what you will get!" Chides Mr. Clark as he takes over the school and begins making changes to the administrative structure.

As a parent of several students, my first thought was "homeschool." My children would never be allowed (or forced) to attend a school that put them in danger or that disregarded their humanity and treated them with disrespect instead of dignity. One mother in particular had me feeling a little bit crazy angry. One of her sons had been expelled without warning on the first day due to a miscreant history. Suddenly, she had all the time and energy in the world to spend in making Mr. Clark's job harder than it had to be - even getting herself appointed to the school board and trying to have him dismissed from the Principalship. Where was she when her son was having so many difficulties before? I am opposed to the attitude that it is the school's responsibility alone to raise and educate our children for us. This woman obviously believed that very strongly to be true.

Of course, Mr. Clark wasn't perfect, but he was willing to be corrected when he was in the wrong because his heart was in the right place, and that made all the difference.