Teacher Preparation

The William Penn Foundation is offering funding under its Children and Families program through an initiative titled "Teacher Preparation." This opportunity is part of the foundation’s long-term goal to increase the percentage of certified K-12 teachers in Philadelphia and improve the racial and ethnic alignment between teachers and the students they serve. The initiative addresses a critical issue in Pennsylvania’s and Philadelphia’s educational systems — a shrinking and disproportionately white teacher pipeline. The grant seeks to support innovative strategies and scalable models that address both teacher certification and diversity, contributing to better student outcomes and more equitable schools. The grant program aims to counter troubling trends. In Pennsylvania, nearly 9,600 teachers — 7.7% of the total — left the profession in the 2022-23 academic year. Philadelphia’s attrition rate was even higher, exceeding 15%. Meanwhile, the number of teacher certifications issued in-state has plummeted from over 15,000 in 2010–11 to around 4,200 in 2021–22. These trends, coupled with a pronounced mismatch between student and teacher demographics — 86% of students in Philadelphia public schools identify as people of color, compared to only 32% of their teachers — emphasize the urgent need for targeted investments in teacher preparation and retention. Organizations in Philadelphia are invited to submit proposals for projects that could include teacher residencies, enhancements to teacher preparation programs, structured mentorship initiatives, and career exploration efforts that support recruitment and retention of a diverse teaching workforce. The Foundation is open to a range of approaches as long as they clearly advance the objective of increasing the number of certified teachers and improving teacher diversity in alignment with student demographics. The application for this funding opportunity must be submitted through the William Penn Foundation's online portal. Applications submitted via email are not accepted. Each submission must include a written proposal and a detailed project budget. As part of the financial documentation, the Foundation will automatically add a set overhead rate to cover general expenses. Proposals that progress past the initial review will trigger a site visit by Foundation staff, who will further evaluate the organization and its proposal. Staff then prepare funding recommendations for consideration by the Foundation’s Board, which makes all final grant decisions. The full review process is expected to take approximately 90 days from submission to decision. The next RFP cycle for this opportunity will open in December 2026 with a deadline in January 2027. While limited funding is available for unsolicited proposals, the Foundation strongly encourages submissions through its official RFP cycles. The Teacher Preparation opportunity is part of a recurring grantmaking process, and it is expected to be offered on a regular basis leading up to the Foundation’s 2035 objectives. Applicants may contact Program Officer Stephanie Waller for questions related to the objective and program strategy. For technical questions or issues with the application portal, the grants team can be reached at [email protected] or by phone at (215) 988-1830. The Foundation’s headquarters is located at Two Logan Square, Suite 1100, 100 North 18th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

Proposals must clearly address recruitment, retention, and certification of diverse teachers in Philadelphia.