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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION |
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| 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 |
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| INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, OCTOBER 24, 2011 |
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| A RESOLUTION |
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1 | Honoring the educational and professional achievements of Dr. |
2 | Constance E. Clayton, the first African American and the |
3 | first woman superintendent of the School District of |
4 | Philadelphia. |
5 | WHEREAS, Constance Clayton was born in 1937 in Philadelphia, |
6 | Pennsylvania, the only child born to Levi Clayton, a plumber, |
7 | and Willabell Harris Clayton, a social worker; and |
8 | WHEREAS, When Dr. Clayton was two years of age, her parents |
9 | divorced, leaving her to be raised by her mother and |
10 | grandmother; and |
11 | WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton attended Paul Lawrence Dunbar Elementary |
12 | School and Philadelphia High School for Girls, where she |
13 | excelled academically; and |
14 | WHEREAS, After high school, Dr. Clayton earned a Bachelor of |
15 | Science degree and a Master of Education degree from Temple |
16 | University and her Doctor of Education degree in Educational |
17 | Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a |
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1 | Rockefeller Scholar; and |
2 | WHEREAS, In 1955, Dr. Clayton began her long service to the |
3 | School District of Philadelphia as a teacher at Harrison |
4 | Elementary School; and |
5 | WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton played an important role in the |
6 | development of academic curriculum for the school district, |
7 | becoming a collaborating teacher in the school district's Social |
8 | Studies Department in 1964 and project director of the school |
9 | district's African and Afro-American Studies Program in 1969; |
10 | and |
11 | WHEREAS, In 1971, Dr. Clayton left the school district to |
12 | serve as regional director of the United States Department of |
13 | Labor Women's Bureau, dealing with women's work-related issues |
14 | in the Mid-Atlantic region; and |
15 | WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton returned to the School District of |
16 | Philadelphia in 1972 as director and associate superintendent of |
17 | the district's Early Childhood Education Program; and |
18 | WHEREAS, In 1982, Dr. Clayton began her tenure as |
19 | superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia - the |
20 | first African American and the first woman superintendent of the |
21 | district; and |
22 | WHEREAS, As superintendent, Dr. Clayton faced a broad |
23 | spectrum of problems, including budget setbacks, low test |
24 | scores, declining enrollment and a high poverty concentration |
25 | throughout the district; and |
26 | WHEREAS, Under the leadership of Dr. Clayton, the School |
27 | District of Philadelphia put into place several successful |
28 | programs aimed at improving student achievement as well as |
29 | making the district financially solvent; and |
30 | WHEREAS, The programs put into place by Dr. Clayton reflected |
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1 | her creativity and her awareness of the numerous social problems |
2 | affecting the school district at that time; and |
3 | WHEREAS, With the help of local businesses, programs such as |
4 | the Homeless Student Initiative and the Take Stock in Education |
5 | series flourished under Dr. Clayton's tenure; and |
6 | WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton was instrumental in advancing the |
7 | America 2000 program in city schools, an ambitious plan for |
8 | urban schools throughout the United States to implement radical |
9 | changes to help improve student achievement by the year 2000; |
10 | and |
11 | WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton retired from her role as superintendent |
12 | in 1993, leaving a legacy of successful programs and fiscal |
13 | discipline in an era of seemingly unending problems; and |
14 | WHEREAS, The Constance E. Clayton Chair on Urban Education at |
15 | the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, |
16 | was named in her honor, the first endowed professorship in the |
17 | United States named after an African-American woman; and |
18 | WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton has been the recipient of numerous |
19 | awards and honors, including several honorary doctorates, the |
20 | Gimbel Award, the Rev. Jesse F. Anderson Memorial Award from |
21 | Widener University, the Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania |
22 | Award and the Humanitarian Service Award presented by the |
23 | Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations; and |
24 | WHEREAS, Dr. Clayton's advocacy on behalf of education |
25 | continues to this day, as evidenced by her selection as the |
26 | recipient of the 2008 Star Community Commitment to Education |
27 | Award presented by the Philadelphia Education Fund; and |
28 | WHEREAS, It is fitting and proper that the House of |
29 | Representatives acknowledge individuals who devote their entire |
30 | lives to improving educational opportunities for children; |
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1 | therefore be it |
2 | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the many |
3 | educational and professional achievements of Dr. Constance E. |
4 | Clayton, former superintendent of the School District of |
5 | Philadelphia. |
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