It appears a former Jefferson High School principal plagiarized a movie when he testified at the sentencing of former El Paso ISD superintendent, Dr. Lorenzo Garcia, last week.

Ironically, the testimony from Dr. Steven Lane, who is Jefferson High School's former principal, centered on "good character."

"I was halfway through the speech when I thought, 'Wait this sounds familiar,'" said El Paso blogger Jaime Abyetia.

The writer and movie buff said he received an email from the group, Kids First-Reform EPISD and the sender was former state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh. Shapleigh is a direct critic of EPISD and Garcia.

Garcia, as KFOX14 reported, was sentenced last week for a cheating scandal that rocked the community. Shapleigh was at the sentencing, and so was the former principal, Lane, who testified just before Garcia's sentencing.

Shapleigh told KFOX14 he was moved by Lane's speech and asked for a copy to send to Kids First followers via email.

"It was a very powerful speech," Shapleigh told us in a phone interview. "And it was absolutely correct."

Problem is, it appears Lane ripped the speech off the movie, "The American President."

Lane testified, "Without hesitation, I can tell you that the position of superintendent is entirely about character."

The movie version has actor Michael Douglas playing the president who said, "I can tell you without hesitation, being president of this country is entirely about character. "
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"School administration is not easy," Lane said.

"America is not easy," Douglas said.

"To make a positive difference, you have to want it bad," Lane said.

In the movie version, Douglas said, "America is advanced citizenship, you got to want it bad."

Additionally Lane said, "Lorenzo does one of two things. 1. He will make you afraid of it or, 2. He'll find someone else to blame for it."

It's very similar to Douglas' character who referred to a political opponent by saying, "He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it."

Abeytia calls the similarities questionable and laughable.

"I think it's problematic for someone to argue about character and in his very same argument he's using words that were written by someone else and representing them as his own," Abeytia said.

KFOX14 tried to get in touch with Lane to ask about the striking similarities. Our attempts to find him were unsuccessful.
There are more similarities from the Lane speech and "The American President" movie.

Read the post from the Lion Star Blog: http://bit.ly/PqN04j

Clip from 'The American President' : http://bit.ly/PqNaZo