PFT Receives Funding for Collaboration with GSE

November 3, 2009 - The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) has been named one of the first recipients of a newly established national grant program. The award will go toward funding a PFT collaboration with Penn GSE and the University's Netter Center for Community Partnerships.

The AFT Innovative Fund Grants are awarded by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) for education initiatives by teacher unions and their partners to improve schools, teaching, and learning.

The PFT-Penn collaboration combines two research-based approaches to improving student achievement - distributed leadership and community-assisted schools. The Penn Center for Educational Leadership, working with PFT, will provide training for teachers in accessing community resources for their students and families, including health care, social services, and employment training. The Netter Center will contribute its expertise in connecting university resources with schools.

The AFT Innovation Fund is the first union-led, private foundation-supported effort that provides grants to AFT affiliates nationwide. The initial $3.3 million secured for the fund comes from the AFT, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, as well as from the AFT.

Media contact: Jill DiSanto-Haines at 215-898-4820 or jdisanto@upenn.edu