FEATURE/Was the Fate of the New Palm Beach County School Superintendent Art Johnson Tied to the Stock Market?

Business Wire, April 9, 2001

Feature & Business Editors/Education & Government Writers

FEATURE...

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE FEATURES)--April 9, 2001

Four years ago, no one would have predicated that the stock market today would be the rough and tumble world where stocks would drop and huge fortunes lost overnight. Then again, four years ago, Art Johnson, an award-winning educator and principal in a Boca Raton, Florida High School who was banished from his chosen profession through a muckraking media controversy would beat the odds, make a storybook comeback and eventually become the number one educator in Palm Beach county as the Superintendent of the Palm Beach County School Board.

These two worlds connect in a manner that can only be described as fate and destiny. No one would have guessed that a telephone call between a nearly distraught school principal and the founder of a fledgling financial services company at the time would result in a union that four years later culminates in success and fortune for both characters in this real life drama.

The Brokerage Company: Before the stock market's steep decline that began last April, Sterling Financial Investment Group's chief market strategist forecasted that trend on national television. More recently, the company's performance on 33 buy and sell stock recommendations for companies covered by Sterling Research for the year 2000 was a staggering 93.8%.

The Principal: On the political front, when a Palm Beach County school principal was fired by then Superintendent Joan Kowal, Sterling Financial's founder, Chairman and CEO, Charles Patrick Garcia, whose firm takes pride in finding undervalued companies, took stock in a badly maligned and then unemployed former school principal, Art Johnson. Today, nearly four years after Johnson began the battle to restore his good name and an odyssey to recapture his career in education, Art Johnson is not only back in the teaching business, but as if in a twist from a Hollywood movie, Johnson has become the Superintendent of the Palm Beach County School System.

The Payoff, Victory: On Tuesday, March 28, 2001, the enthusiasm was euphoric and victory glorious for Johnson who was officially sworn in to become the leader of a school district comprising 18,000 employees, 9,000 teachers, 154,000 students, 143 schools and a $1.9 billion dollar operating budget. "This was unequivocally one of the greatest days of my life," says Johnson while surrounded by the media and the many supporters and loyalists Johnson has attracted during his more than 35 years as an educator.

The Connection: One of Johnson's earliest supporters was Charles Patrick Garcia, the founder of a then fledgling financial services company based in Boca Raton, Sterling Financial Investment Group. "Charlie's unwavering commitment to my cause is the reason I have obtained this position," says Johnson. Garcia, a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, a collegiate boxer, a leader, a former White House Fellow and a renown Hispanic has fought numerous personal and professional battles to achieve his own success.

One Beats the Odds: Garcia and his firm have beat the odds by operating what has become one of the most dynamic financial services companies in the country today. Sterling Financial was named as the Fastest Growing Privately Held Firm in the State of Florida. Garcia, who is Panamanian-American, was named by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the "Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States." In recognition of this achievement Garcia was recently honored with a private reception with Panamanian President, Mireya Moscoso; Garcia was also awarded the Key to the City of Panama. In February, Garcia was featured on Univision Television Networks on a series that profiles Hispanics that have achieved extraordinary success and who serve as role models for the Hispanic community at large.

The Other Beats the Odds: According to Garcia, he sees an extraordinary parallel between Art Johnson's story and the story portrayed in this year's multi-Oscar award-winning film, "Gladiator." Garcia observes that Crowe's character's rightful place to lead the Roman Empire was cut short through Machiavellian machinations perpetrated through political betrayal of close professional associates, so too was Art Johnson's educational career abruptly terminated. According to Garcia, "Dr. Johnson was fired from his position after being falsely accused and maliciously defamed by then Superintendent Joan Kowal who manipulated the media against him to advance her own political agenda."

The Drama: It was a viscous cycle that percolated during nearly a two-year period and played out in the South Florida media that eventually destroyed Johnson's life at the time. His good name was tarnished, his career ruined, Johnson was barred from his chosen profession. However, like Crowe, with his keen spirit, true grit and indefatigable persistence, Johnson managed to tough it out while at the bottom of the barrel, never once treading in the mud where his accusers had so effectively romped. "Art took the high road," says Garcia, reflecting on the darkest of Johnson's days in educational-exile, "and to me, this is the greatest example of Art's character and integrity, the desire to win and win on one's own merits, without tearing others down, a great lesson in life and one which his students and colleagues can certainly learn from."