The real-life Joe Clark resigned as principal of Eastside High School shortly after the film was released. Around the time the film debuted, he was suspended by the school board for one week, after scheduling an assembly in which dancers stripped down to their G-strings. Clark said he hadn't known about it in advance. Ironically, the man who suspended him was Dr. Frank Napier. After Clark left Eastside, he became an author, and motivational speaker. In 1995, he was hired to run a juvenile detention center in Newark, New Jersey, a position he held until he resigned in 2002. During his time there, he once again came under fire for his controversial methods.
Real-life students and teachers from Eastside High appeared as extras in this film.
The real Joe Clark passed away on December 29th, 2020.
Although Regina Taylor plays the mother of Karen Malina White, in real-life she's only five years older.