Teachers in San Francisco are among one of the worst-paid educators in California, despite living in what is by far the most expensive rental market in the Country.
Now San Francisco is going to put a staggering $44 million for teacher’s housing development in the city, so that public school teachers can afford to live in the city where they work.-
Mayor Ed Lee committed that the existing property will be bulldozed in the Outer Sunset and build 130 to 150 rental units of teacher housing.
The apartments will be priced below the market rates. The houses will be move-in ready by 2022.
The announcement came days after a local news published a profile on Etoria Cheeks. Who is a math teacher at a public high school in the city and is homeless, despite having a master’s degree and earning about $65,000 a year. She lost her home in a foreclosure in December last year.
Since then she has bounced between hostels, a homeless shelter and a retired teacher’s guest room.
The average rent of a one-bedroom in the city is about $3,300 a month. There are several teachers like Cheeks, who are struggling. Some rent cramped spaces in other people’s homes, drive for Uber, or commute from the far reaches of the East Bay.
The mayor's proposal still requires the support of the city school district and the Board of Education to inch the project forward.
Mayod Lee said the teacher housing solution in San Francisco is long overdue.
"I am disturbed as anyone to have a teacher who's homeless," Lee told the Chronicle.
San Francisco is not the first city to take such measure. Cities like, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Asheville, North Carolina have built teacher housing facilities to help educators stay put.
Los Angeles created three below the market rate apartment complexes for teachers, more than any other district in the state. But not a single tenant is a teacher, as they made too much money to qualify for the units under federal rule.
So, lower income district employees, including cafeteria workers and school bus drivers, scooped them up.
AMandeep
