Philadelphia City Council Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson (At-Large) was joined by School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Dr. Tony B. Watlington Sr., Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur G. Steinberg, The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia President and CEO Kathryn Epps, and Career and Technical Education faculty and staff to announce a $75,000 investment in the School District’s CTE Teacher Training Program for Fall 2026.
The new funding is being provided by The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia’s Teacher Appreciation Fund, created in 2024 to help recruit and retain educators committed to improving outcomes for children in Philadelphia’s public schools. The announcement was made during a press conference at Ben Franklin High School.
The School District of Philadelphia offers CTE programs in 43 occupational areas. CTE classes are typically taught by former industry professionals who bring experience from their respective fields into the classroom. Historically, CTE Educators were required to pay out of pocket for the credentials needed to teach, making Philadelphia one of the only districts in the Commonwealth that did not cover these costs.
In 2025, Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson advocated for and secured $500,000 in funding to cover the credentialing costs for current CTE teachers in the School District of Philadelphia. The funding helped remove a significant barrier to recruiting and retaining CTE instructors. In the first year, nearly 50 teachers benefited from the initiative. The $75,000 investment will be able to support an additional 20 teachers.
“Philadelphia has a tremendous CTE system that gives our young people the opportunity to graduate with skills and experience that can put them on a path to a good career, whether or not they choose to attend college,” said Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson. “However, strong CTE programs depend on having qualified instructors in the classroom. That is why I was proud to secure funding last year, and I am grateful to The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia for seeing the immense value of this program and joining us as a partner in sustaining it into Fiscal Year 2027.”
“Our Career and Technical Education teachers bring invaluable industry experience into our classrooms, and this investment will help ensure that more of our educators have access to the credentials and training they need to teach our young people,” said Superintendent Tony B. Watlington, Sr., Ed.D. “We are grateful to Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson and The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia for their continued partnership and commitment to strengthening our CTE programs, supporting our educators, and preparing Philadelphia students for the careers of tomorrow.
“As a dedicated partner in confronting the teacher shortage crisis, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers is proud to support programs that erase financial barriers to becoming public educators. We are grateful as ever for Council Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson’s impassioned support for our schools and students,” PFT President Arthur G. Steinberg said. “Empowering skilled workers to become certified CTE teachers greatly expands the educational opportunities we are able to provide students. We thank our partners in the CTE Teacher Training Program, and enthusiastically welcome industry professionals who aspire to join our rewarding profession.”
“Every student in Philadelphia deserves a teacher who can bring real, hands-on industry experience into the classroom; and every teacher who signs up to do that work deserves the support to see it through,” said Kathryn Epps, President and CEO of the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia. “When the Fund learned that teachers already enrolled in this credentialing program were at risk of losing that opportunity, stepping in wasn’t a question. It’s exactly why we created our Teacher Appreciation Fund. This $75,000 investment ensures these CTE educators can finish what they started, and it’s a down payment on the kind of long-term partnership Philadelphia’s students and teachers deserve.”
The press conference can also be viewed on the Majority Leader’s Instagram page here.
