PRINTER'S NO. 4087
No. 604 Session of 2000
INTRODUCED BY PERZEL, OCTOBER 11, 2000
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
OCTOBER 11, 2000
A RESOLUTION
1 Paying tribute to the late W. Russell G. Byers on the occasion
2 of his being named the posthumous recipient of CORA Services
3 Incorporated's Year 2000 Service Award.
4 WHEREAS, W. Russell G. Byers served as a prominent columnist
5 and senior editor at the Philadelphia Daily News. Mr. Byers used
6 his voice as a writer to advocate for Philadelphia's children
7 through improving our system of education and working to raise
8 their standard of living; and
9 WHEREAS, CORA Services Incorporated is a crisis-intervention
10 and prevention agency for at-risk youth founded in Philadelphia
11 in 1971. CORA, which stands for Counseling or Referral
12 Assistance, has as its mission enriching the quality of life for
13 children, families and the community. CORA's annual service
14 award is presented to those who have "impacted on and improved
15 the quality of life" in Philadelphia. In honoring Mr. Byers the
16 agency noted "the many ways he championed the city and his
17 belief in the importance of educating our children"; and
18 WHEREAS, Mr. Byers will be further memorialized through the
1 planned establishment of the Russell Byers Charter School,
2 scheduled to begin operating in the Spring Garden area of
3 Philadelphia in the fall of 2001. The charter school will
4 initially serve children from age four through second grade, and
5 will use the city as its classroom through an innovative
6 "expeditionary learning" program. Community partners in the
7 charter include the National Constitution Center, Pennsylvania
8 Horticultural Society, Free Library, City Year Philadelphia,
9 International Visitors Council, Regional Performing Arts Center,
10 WHYY, and the Philadelphia Daily News; and includes on its
11 advisory council representation from the city's business
12 community including Greater Philadelphia First and the Greater
13 Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. This charter school will stand
14 as a lasting tribute to Mr. Byers' commitment to public
15 education and its importance in the life of the city; therefore
16 be it
17 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives hereby honor the
18 memory of W. Russell G. Byers on the occasion of his being named
19 recipient of the CORA Services Incorporated's Year 2000 Service
20 Award and the official announcement of efforts to establish a
21 charter school in his honor, and pay tribute to his lifetime
22 dedication to improving the quality of life in the City of
23 Philadelphia and to assuring a brighter future for its children;
24 and be it further
25 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
26 his widow, Laurada Beacham Byers, and children, Alison Byers
27 Reilly and Russell Byers, Jr.
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