The most important determinant of a school’s success in advancing student learning is the effectiveness of its teachers. And all students, particularly students of color, benefit from a diverse teacher workforce. For the last several years, more of Philadelphia’s teacher vacancies have been filled with aspiring educators who want to make an impact on the lives of students but who do not yet hold certification.
This trend has had a marked impact, with one in every three teachers in Philadelphia’s lowest-performing district schools holding an “emergency permit”. However, the emergency-permitted teachers in our schools who have answered the call to teach in an era of declines in certification program enrollment are not a problem to solve; they represent an opportunity.
These are talented educators, including new teachers and teachers of color, whom we should be working to retain by hearing their feedback about what they need to thrive and supporting them to overcome barriers and become experts in their craft. Some of these barriers include the cost and time commitment required to complete coursework, when teachers are already balancing demanding teaching schedules and, often, student loan debt from bachelor’s degree programs.
Helping more Philadelphia teachers achieve full certification requires not only short-term patches, but a long-term, comprehensive, citywide strategy that strengthens all levels of the teacher talent pipeline to better recruit, develop, and retain our teachers.
The Philadelphia Citywide Talent Coalition — with Elevate 215 serving as the lead convenor of over 50 school and organizational entities — was established to drive implementation of a comprehensive strategy to address the teacher talent pipeline.
This strategy means supporting early exposure to teaching careers for high school and college students, particularly students of color, to build interest and aspiration. It means investing in accessible preparation programs that help aspiring teachers complete certification programs, including financial support and alternative pathways. Providing robust mentoring and support for early-career teachers, so they are not left to navigate the challenges of the classroom alone. And expanding retention efforts, such as peer networks, professional growth opportunities, bonuses, and incentives for teaching in hard-to-staff schools.
The path forward is clear: Invest in the teacher pipeline, from recruitment through retention, and do it together.
We know this strategy can work because we are already seeing progress:
At the School District of Philadelphia, the Office of Professional Learning is providing coaching and support to emergency certified teachers and exploring additional pathways to their full certification. Charter schools like Philadelphia Hebrew Public and Sankofa Freedom Academy are embedding certification supports in their schools — including supporting tuition — to help emergency-certified teachers navigate their specific pathways to full certification.
City Teaching Alliance implements a comprehensive set of supports resulting in its teaching fellows receiving full dual certification in both a content area and Special Education. While a little less than 80 percent of new teachers returned to teaching after the 2023-24 school year across the city, over 90 percent of new teachers supported by CTA returned to teaching this school year.
At the William Penn Foundation, we are focused on increasing the number of certified teachers in Philadelphia public schools and ensuring the teaching workforce better reflects the racial and ethnic diversity of Philadelphia students. In April, our Board of Directors awarded over $6 million to 13 organizations doing this work, and we will continue to advance this objective over the next decade. We invite organizations also advancing this work to apply for our next round of funding opening this December. And we need partners and stakeholders across the city to make a commitment in supporting this work as well.
The path forward is clear: Invest in the teacher pipeline, from recruitment through retention, and do it together. By aligning the efforts of K-12 schools, teacher preparation programs, nonprofits, and other partners, we can build a future where emergency permits are the exception, not the norm, where every teacher has the supports to thrive in their roles, and where every student in Philadelphia has the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed with a great teacher by their side.
Scott Gaiber, the Deputy Chief of Talent Initiatives of Elevate 215, has over 23 years of experience as an educator, serving as a teacher, school co-founder, district administrator, and nonprofit leader in Philadelphia and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Stephanie Waller, Program Officer at the William Penn Foundation, manages grantmaking focused on teacher preparation, advocacy for child-serving systems, and workforce training. She has 14 years of experience across K-12 education and workforce development, including as an educator and district administrator, in Philadelphia and Washington DC.
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