these are the folks I applied to last year. First they screwed up my application, and had me down as a bilingual applicant. then, after fixing that i made it to the second stage (the interview) only to be told there were no placements for english teachers. Then, they asked if I was still interested in bilingual and assured me I ddin't need to know a lot of Spanish. So I said yes and agreed to the oral and written exams.

The oral exam came less than a week later, when they called me on my lunchbreak to engage me in an impromptu conversation, which i failed miserably. the written exam was also fairly difficult. So much for not needing a lot of Spanish.

Needless to say, i dodn't make it in but applied this year too. This time they had several placements for english teacher. Unfortunately, about 2 days after I applied, they emailed me and told me the 2009 cohort was suspended because of staffing needs, and to apply again in September.

Not sure if I'm goign to waste my time and energy for a third ride on the merry-go-round. Suffice it to say the Philly Teaching Fellows themselves may be highly dedicated and organized people, but the PTF management and administration is about as shitty as it gets. Also, they don't offer ESL which, in Philly where 1 out of every 10 citizens is an immigrant, is highly necessary for survival.