I had the pleasure a few years ago of meeting and spending a few minutes with Joe Clark, the baseball bat-wielding principal of troubled Eastside High School in Patterson, New Jersey. Clark’s success in turning the school around earned him a good deal of notoriety, and his story eventually was made into the movie, “Lean on Me,” in which actor Morgan Freeman played his part.

A couple of things clearly stand out in my mind from our brief conversation. First of all, he is quite passionate about education. He also believes that like life, discipline must exist for learning to take place. “If there is no discipline, there is anarchy,” says he. “Good citizenship demands attention to responsibilities as well as rights.”

And finally, we can’t take pride in relationships or the institutions we serve until we are first able to take pride in ourselves. Joe Clark was demanding and tough on his students. But it was tough love that was reflected in the pride he had for their accomplishments. I really liked what Time magazine said in their cover story about Joe a few years ago: “If tough love is your thing, you can find a lot to love about Joe Clark.”

You know what I think is wrong with our educational system today? I don’t think we have enough Joe Clarks to go around.

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