Lean On Me - Authority and Accountability in Education Leadership
Joe Clark:
You think you can run this school? If you could, then I wouldn't be here, would I? No one talks in my meetings. NO ONE! You just take out your pencils and write. I want the names of every hoodlum, drug dealer, drug user, and miscreant who's done nothing but take this place apart on my desk by noon today. Reverend Slappy...You are now my chief custodian, Reverend Slappy. You will scour this building clean. Graffiti goes up, it's off the next day. Is that clear? ...Detention students can help you. Let them scrub this place for awhile; let them discover what a fine living people like yourself make doing this. And tear down those cages in the cafeteria! If we treat our students like animals, that's exactly how they'll behave...! This is my new Dean of Security, Mr. William Wright. He will be my Avenging Angel, as you teachers reclaim the halls. This is an institution of learning, ladies and gentlemen. If you can't control it, HOW CAN YOU TEACH?! Discipline is not the enemy of enthusiasm...! Mr. Zirella, you are my new Head Football Coach. Mr. Darnell -- stand up, Mr. Darnell -- Mr. Darnell will be your assistant. You know why you're being demoted, Mr. Darnell? Because I'm sick and tired of our football team getting pushed all over the field! Thank you, sit down! I want precision. I want a weight program. And if you don't like it, Mr. Darnell, you can quit. Same goes for the rest of ya. You tried it your way for years. And 60% of your students -- excluding those with criminal records -- 60% of them can't even pass our state's Minimum Basic Skills Test. THAT MEANS THEY CAN HARDLY READ! They've given me one school year, less than 12 months, to turn this place around...to get those test scores up, so the state will not take us over to perform the task which you have failed to do -- TO EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN! Forget about the way it used to be. This is not a damn democracy. We are in a state of emergency, and my word is law. There's only one boss in this place, and that's me - the "HNIC." Are there any questions? Mr. Wright, with me.
Mr. O'Malley:
HNIC"?
Ms. Levias:
The "Head Nigger In Charge".
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