THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY V. BROWN, KORTZ, CALTAGIRONE, BRADFORD, COHEN, EVERETT, YOUNGBLOOD, MURT, FABRIZIO, GEORGE, HENNESSEY, JOHNSON, KIRKLAND, MAHONEY, MANN, MILLARD, MOUL, M. O'BRIEN, PAYTON, ROEBUCK, SWANGER, VEREB AND WATSON, OCTOBER 24, 2011

INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, OCTOBER 24, 2011  

A RESOLUTION

Honoring the educational and professional achievements of Dr.

Constance E. Clayton, the first African American and the

first woman superintendent of the School District of

Philadelphia.

WHEREAS, Constance Clayton was born in 1937 in Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania, the only child born to Levi Clayton, a plumber,

and Willabell Harris Clayton, a social worker; and

WHEREAS, When Dr. Clayton was two years of age, her parents

divorced, leaving her to be raised by her mother and

grandmother; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton attended Paul Lawrence Dunbar Elementary

School and Philadelphia High School for Girls, where she

excelled academically; and

WHEREAS, After high school, Dr. Clayton earned a Bachelor of

Science degree and a Master of Education degree from Temple

University and her Doctor of Education degree in Educational

Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a

Rockefeller Scholar; and

WHEREAS, In 1955, Dr. Clayton began her long service to the

School District of Philadelphia as a teacher at Harrison

Elementary School; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton played an important role in the

development of academic curriculum for the school district,

becoming a collaborating teacher in the school district's Social

Studies Department in 1964 and project director of the school

district's African and Afro-American Studies Program in 1969;

and

WHEREAS, In 1971, Dr. Clayton left the school district to

serve as regional director of the United States Department of

Labor Women's Bureau, dealing with women's work-related issues

in the Mid-Atlantic region; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton returned to the School District of

Philadelphia in 1972 as director and associate superintendent of

the district's Early Childhood Education Program; and

WHEREAS, In 1982, Dr. Clayton began her tenure as

superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia - the

first African American and the first woman superintendent of the

district; and

WHEREAS, As superintendent, Dr. Clayton faced a broad

spectrum of problems, including budget setbacks, low test

scores, declining enrollment and a high poverty concentration

throughout the district; and

WHEREAS, Under the leadership of Dr. Clayton, the School

District of Philadelphia put into place several successful

programs aimed at improving student achievement as well as

making the district financially solvent; and

WHEREAS, The programs put into place by Dr. Clayton reflected

her creativity and her awareness of the numerous social problems

affecting the school district at that time; and

WHEREAS, With the help of local businesses, programs such as

the Homeless Student Initiative and the Take Stock in Education

series flourished under Dr. Clayton's tenure; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton was instrumental in advancing the

America 2000 program in city schools, an ambitious plan for

urban schools throughout the United States to implement radical

changes to help improve student achievement by the year 2000;

and

WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton retired from her role as superintendent

in 1993, leaving a legacy of successful programs and fiscal

discipline in an era of seemingly unending problems; and

WHEREAS, The Constance E. Clayton Chair on Urban Education at

the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania,

was named in her honor, the first endowed professorship in the

United States named after an African-American woman; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton has been the recipient of numerous

awards and honors, including several honorary doctorates, the

Gimbel Award, the Rev. Jesse F. Anderson Memorial Award from

Widener University, the Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania

Award and the Humanitarian Service Award presented by the

Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton's advocacy on behalf of education

continues to this day, as evidenced by her selection as the

recipient of the 2008 Star Community Commitment to Education

Award presented by the Philadelphia Education Fund; and

WHEREAS, It is fitting and proper that the House of

Representatives acknowledge individuals who devote their entire

lives to improving educational opportunities for children;

therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the many

educational and professional achievements of Dr. Constance E.

Clayton, former superintendent of the School District of

Philadelphia.