Look at the too-cool-to-cope kids in Jaime Escalante's class at East L.A.'s tough Garfield High, and many will say they see a bunch of losers. EscaIante sees scholars. How he cajoles, instructs, chalIenges and inspires his no-expectations barrio kids to pass the daunting CalcuIus Advanced Placement Test forms the amazing heart of Stand and Deliver [Side A], starring Edward James OImos and Lou Diamond PhilIips. Paterson, New Jersey's Eastside High is the setting for Lean on Me [Side B], starring Morgan Freeman as bat-and-bulIhorn-toting principal Joe Clark, whose controversial methods turned the faiIing schooI around and made CIark a national symboI of tough-Iove education. His message: Don't Iean on excuses, drugs or anger. Lean on yourself and me...and learn. School's now in session with these two true-Iife taIes! |