The much-discussed bat was not for hitting students but to symbolize the potential of the baseball diamond, where one could hit a strike or a home run, .

Paterson Superintendent of School Eileen Shafer said in a statement that Clark "left his indelible mark on public education by being fiercely devoted to the students in his care" and "demanded more from his students because he believed they could achieve more than what was expected of them."

"But in the end, it is the many lives Joe Clark influenced for the better that have become his greatest legacy," Shafer said.

Clark was born in Rochelle, Georgia, on May 8, 1938, and moved during childhood to Newark, New Jersey

He served as a U.S.