With rising rents, some school districts are trying to find teachers affordable housing USA Today on March 14, 2024

This story was originally reported by USA Today and Claire Thornton

Across the country, teachers are struggling to make ends meet due to rising housing costs and stagnant salaries. For many educators, finding an affordable place to live has become an immense challenge, leading some school districts to take an unusual step – building housing specifically for their teachers and staff.

Take the case of Kareem Wall, a 31-year-old English teacher in Kansas City, Missouri. Last school year, Wall found himself homeless after being evicted just two days into his first year on the job. With his first paycheck still a month away and no money left over from the summer, Wall was forced to bounce between his classroom couch, his car, friends’ couches, and the occasional hotel room for seven grueling months.

“There were times where I felt irritable, delirious, extremely fatigued,” Wall told USA Today. “I felt like my body was one step behind.”

Wall’s situation highlights the dire housing affordability crisis facing many teachers across the United States. According to the National Education Association, the average starting salary for teachers in recent years was just above $40,000. Meanwhile, recent economic data shows that starting teachers would have to spend more than 30% of their salary on rent – the definition of unaffordable housing – in more than 1 out of every 5 of the country’s largest metro areas.

These financial pressures have led nearly 90% of public schools to struggle filling teaching positions this school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. In response, some districts are taking matters into their own hands by building affordable housing units specifically for their employees.

The Jefferson Union High School District in Daly City, California, opened an employee apartment building in 2022 with 122 units. Since teachers moved in, the district has started the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years with zero vacancies for the first time in years.

“Our staff housing had a huge impact on that,” said Austin Worden, the district’s director of communications and staff housing.

In Kansas City, a nonprofit called Teachers Like Me built a duplex where Wall now rents a one-bedroom unit for just $400 a month – a steal compared to the city’s average rent of around $1,200.

“I feel like I’ve stumbled upon Kansas City’s best-kept secret,” Wall said of his new home.

But while teacher housing has proven to be an effective retention strategy, it’s not a perfect solution. These housing units are often limited in number with lengthy waitlists. And if a teacher loses their job, they also lose their affordable housing.

“When districts have to spend time and money and human resources to solve the housing problem of their teacher workforce, it takes them away from their core responsibility,” said Heather Peske, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality.

Education advocates argue that while helpful, affordable housing shouldn’t be a band-aid solution – teachers simply need higher salaries that keep up with the rising cost of living. Some districts, like Kansas City, have implemented raises recently, but researchers say the additional income is often still not enough to make housing truly affordable.

As the teacher housing crisis persists, many hope for broader systemic changes to improve educator compensation and tackle the lack of affordable housing impacting communities nationwide.

Sources: USA Today article National Education Association data National Center for Education Statistics