As rents rise, some schools provide teachers with affordable housing
| Daly City, Calif.
San Francisco Bay Area high school teacher Lisa Raskin moved out of a cramped apartment she was sharing with a roommate and into her own place this month, paying a deeply discounted $1,500 a month for a one-bedroom with expansive views within walking distance to work.
It was once an impossible dream in an exorbitantly priced region hostile to new housing. But her employer, a 4,000-student school district south of San Francisco, was the rare success story in the struggle to provide affordable housing and in May, it opened 122 apartments for teachers and staff.
鈥淚 have a sense of community, which I think is more valuable than anything else,鈥� the San Francisco native said. 鈥淢ore districts really need to consider this model. I think it shows educators that they value them.鈥�
The Jefferson Union High School District in San Mateo County鈥檚 Daly City is among just a handful of places in the country with educator housing. But with a national teacher shortage and rapidly rising rents, the working-class district could serve as a harbinger as schools across the U.S. seek to attract and retain educators.
鈥淭his is absolutely a solution for other districts. As we鈥檝e gone through the process, we鈥檝e learned of so many other districts interested in doing what we鈥檝e done,鈥� said Andrew Lie, a school board trustee. 鈥淔or us to be at the front end of this new wave of teacher and staff housing is actually pretty exciting.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 like a great gift coming from the district,鈥� said math teacher Eleonor Obedoza of her family鈥檚 new three-bedroom apartment.
In West Virginia, the American Federation of Teachers recently helped open a building with apartments for teachers and retail shops that officials hope will revitalize the rural town of Welch.
Teachers were traveling 鈥渉ours and hours to get to school and back,鈥� said Randi Weingarten, AFT union president. 鈥淪o this became an idea to spark economic development and to create housing.鈥�
Jeff Vincent, co-founder and director of the Center for Cities & Schools at the University of California, Berkeley, said such housing complexes are rare, but he expects more school districts to explore the concept given the benefits of teachers living in the communities where they work, so they can get to know students and families better.
But such projects face obstacles, including pushback from residents. Dr. Vincent urges districts to be cautious.
鈥淥ne of the biggest barriers is the need for people to think outside the box,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are skeptics of whether schools should be doing this with their land.鈥�
Roughly a quarter of the 500 employees at Jefferson Union were resigning or retiring every year and the district, where teacher salaries for the 2022-23 year start at $60,000, could not compete with wealthier schools that pay new teachers $76,000 or more.
So in 2017-2018, officials came up with a plan to address recruitment and retention, including a $75 million housing complex for teachers and staff financed in part by a $30 million bond measure approved by voters in 2018.
The district also has a more ambitious plan to lease school property for a 1,200-unit development that would mix retail with market-rate housing and generate revenue to beef up teacher salaries. But the Sierra Club鈥檚 local chapter and others have expressed objections. They want more units at below-market rents and taller buildings to preserve more open space, including a decades-old garden scheduled for razing.
So far, the district is opposed to those changes, inflaming critics.
鈥淚t鈥檚 terrible the schools have to come up with schemes to build housing to pay teachers,鈥� said Gladwyn d鈥橲ouza, a Sierra Club member who supports workforce housing but says there should be more homes for everyone.
Tenants at the school district complex can stay up to five years, hopefully using the time to save up for a down payment on a house.
But those, too, are becoming more difficult to buy. A 2016 study by Redfin found that only 20% of homes for sale across major U.S. metro areas were affordable on an average teacher鈥檚 salary of $62,800, down from 34% in 2012.
Boston high school English teacher Shirley Jones-Luke, who bought her house nearly two decades ago, said there鈥檚 no way she鈥檇 be able to afford one today in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood of Dorchester where she鈥檚 taught for years.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to students to know that their teachers live in the same communities as them, shop at the same stores,鈥� said Ms. Jones-Luke, who is Black. 鈥淭hey realize the teachers aren鈥檛 out of touch because we live in the same 鈥榟ood. I know what鈥檚 going on in the 鈥榟ood just as much as they do.鈥�
In California, the 2016 study found only 17% of homes were affordable on the average state teacher salary of roughly $74,000, down from 30% in 2012. The average teacher could afford 0.2% of homes in San Francisco and none in Silicon Valley, where the median sales price of a home was $1.5 million in June.
California lawmakers in 2016 made it easier for districts to build workforce housing on school property, but some efforts have stalled over financing and residential pushback. Five workforce housing complexes currently exist in Los Angeles, Santa Clara, and San Mateo county school districts.
After two decades of trying, San Francisco Unified plans to break ground this summer on a 135-unit complex for educators. It could be ready to lease in 2024 鈥� two years behind schedule.
鈥淚t was a fight to get it, and it isn鈥檛 built yet,鈥� said Cassondra Curiel, president of United Educators of San Francisco. 鈥淚t鈥檒l alleviate pressure, and it鈥檒l be great for those folks who get in there. The bottom line and the objective truth is, it鈥檚 not enough.鈥�
Jefferson Union was the rare success story, building the new complex on a former parking lot of an old high school currently used for district offices.
The apartments range in monthly rent from $1,356 for a one-bedroom to $2,511 for a three-bedroom, which officials say is 58% of market rate. There are multiple washers and dryers on every floor, a bike room, and meeting rooms where teachers can socialize or collaborate on lessons.
Taylor and Darnel Garcia despaired of ever moving out of a two-bedroom in-law unit that was too small for them and their children, ages 3 and 6. The administrative assistant and her husband, a mechanic for the school district, pondered whether they could afford to stay in the Bay Area.
鈥淲e were kind of floating in the unknown for a while,鈥� she said after moving into their new three-bedroom apartment in May. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so hard to say, 鈥楬ey, I have a good career, and I still can鈥檛 afford to live here.鈥� So this provided that for us.鈥�
About 80 employees are to move in by fall and another 30 are applying, including about a dozen new hires, said Tina Van Raaphorst, associate superintendent of business services. The average annual salary of residents is $62,300, and includes janitors, cafeteria workers, and bus drivers who earn far less than teachers.
Melissa Kallstrom, a mom to a district student, does not begrudge the employees their new homes. But she objects to plans to tear up the community garden she and others say provides rare green space.
鈥淭his hasn鈥檛 been developed. This has just come naturally,鈥� she said of the garden.
Ms. Raskin understands change is difficult. She grew up in San Francisco鈥檚 Mission District, a working-class neighborhood now trendy with fashionable restaurants where she cannot afford to live by herself.
During the pandemic, she moved out of her mother鈥檚 house to share an apartment with a friend. But living quarters were tight. The chance to move into a place of her own was like hitting the jackpot, said Ms. Raskin, who teaches health and social science.
鈥淭his is mine,鈥� she said.
This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writer R.J. Rico contributed from Atlanta.
