2025 IMPACT: The Philadelphia Citywide talent coalition
2026: A New Era for Philadelphia’s Educator Workforce
The momentum is real. The trajectory is clear. Philadelphia is redefining what is possible for an educator workforce.
The Philadelphia Citywide Talent Coalition is entering its fourth year serving as the city’s cross-sector engine for strengthening the educator workforce. The coalition is composed of representatives from 50 organizations across a diverse range of sectors, including education, nonprofit, civic, research, and philanthropy, working collectively to implement strategies from a citywide talent plan focused on increasing the diversity and effectiveness of Philadelphia’s teachers. Elevate 215 serves as the organizational backbone and convener, ensuring alignment, accountability, and sustained progress across the work.
The Coalition is setting the national standard for coordinated, high-impact educator workforce strategy. These outcomes were made possible because the Coalition has become the table where systems align, partners coordinate, and real progress takes root.
Read on to learn more about our impact in 2025.
Youth in Education Summit
One of the most powerful moments of 2025 came from our young people themselves. In October, more than 200 high school students gathered at Temple University for the Youth in Education Summit to explore careers in teaching and connect with educator preparation programs. The energy in that room made clear that the next generation is ready to lead classrooms in their own communities.
The Summit was developed in partnership with multiple organizations and members of the Coalition, with Temple University and Elevate 215 serving as sponsors. It was covered by Fox29, 6abc, KYW, and Chalkbeat, bringing citywide attention to Philadelphia’s growing early educator pipeline. This interest is being met with real opportunity. By the 2026-27 school year, 9 high schools with technical assistance from the Center for Black Educator Development and Philadelphia Academics, Inc, will offer teaching pathways or education focused CTE programs. That scale places Philadelphia among the leading early educator pipelines in the country and offers a clear path for young people who want to teach where they live.
“The young people who joined us at the Philadelphia Youth in Education Summit represent the future of our schools and our city. These high school pathways are cultivating young leaders who believe in the power of education to transform lives and strengthen communities across Philadelphia.”
Measurable Gains In Teacher Diversity
National data show that only about 20% of public-school teachers in the United States are teachers of color. Philadelphia reached 38.5% in the 2024-25 school year, nearly double the national share, building on several years of steady progress. This positions Philadelphia well ahead of most large urban districts and signals real movement toward a workforce that reflects the students it serves.
Retention of teachers of color also strengthened, rising to 81% year over year from 2023-24 to 2024-25. Sustaining this retention momentum is essential to meeting and maintaining the city’s diversity goals. In addition, the Philadelphia Affinity Group Network now reaches more than 325 educators and continues to show higher retention than citywide averages. Evaluation findings confirmed that participants were retained at higher rates than comparable peers.
Recruitment Strengthened Despite National Shortages
The Coalition’s recruitment strategy is turning awareness into real action. This year’s marketing campaign reached Philadelphia at scale with 3.5 million impressions and 44,000+ clicks, leading to nearly 28,000 unique website visitors to TeachPHL.org. This produced 5,700+ clicks to apply for jobs across district and charter employers, and 3,500+ clicks on Teacher Residency program pages. Advertising and outreach efforts yielded 3,200+ prospective teachers into the Philadelphia Aspiring Teachers database. Candidate feedback confirmed what the numbers suggest: among those who completed the hiring survey, 67% applied to at least one teaching job or to a certification program. At a time when many districts across the country have shrinking applicant pools, Philadelphia’s unified recruitment strategy is producing both reach and responsiveness.
Certification Access Expanded As Other Cities Saw Declines
While teacher preparation enrollment continues to fall nationally, Philadelphia secured almost $1M in new workforce funds and launched or expanded multiple Registered Apprenticeship programs. These pathways create affordable, workplace-based certification routes for paraprofessionals, bilingual educators, and career changers. Major wins included Registered Apprenticeship programs approved or advanced at the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), Learned Potential, Esperanza Academy Charter School, and American Paradigm Schools, along with new partnerships with Temple University, Eastern University, and Drexel University to support certification in special education and secondary subjects. Teacher residency programs at Mastery Schools and SDP grew to 23 and 62 residents respectively. This infrastructure positions Philadelphia to increase its percentage of certified teachers through programs that are fully accessible to working adults.
Political Commitment Deepened
In February, the Parker Administration publicly endorsed the Coalition’s goals and named the strategy directly in the city’s Five Year Financial and Strategic Plan. That support showed up in concrete ways. The new SDP and PFT agreement includes 3% annual raises and additional bonuses, alongside targeted incentives for educators in hard-to-staff schools and hard-to-fill subject areas. Coalition partners–including the #PANeedsTeachers needs teachers campaign, co-led by Teach Plus PA and the Pennsylvania Educator Diversity Consortium–also helped secure $30,000,000 in PA State FY26 Budget for student teacher stipends, tying city priorities to state-level investment in the educator pipeline.
This combination of mayoral leadership, district action, charter engagement, higher education partnership, and workforce investment has created a level of alignment that distinguishes the city at a national level.
What Our Momentum Means
The Coalition’s impact in 2025 tells the story of the cumulative power of bringing all voices to the table, elevating what works, and staying focused on strengthening the educator workforce citywide. Philadelphia is increasing teacher diversity, expanding certification pathways, and building one of the strongest early educator pipelines in the country. It is delivering retention supports that serve as proof points for other cities with rising teacher attrition. The momentum is real. The trajectory is clear. Philadelphia is redefining what is possible for an educator workforce.