Teacher Housing

National teacher shortages have made headlines since the pandemic. Teachers and school district employees cite behavioral issues, working overtime with no pay, lack of support from the state and government and salary as reasons why they are leaving their careers.

The Bay Area is no exception. However, some school districts in the area have come up with a solution to fight their dwindling numbers of educators. Districts are applying for grants and using old property to build district employee affordable housing.

Many districts closest to the Bay are building or planning to build affordable housing, however, the housing crisis is affecting teachers and workers farther away from the peninsula as well. To look deeper into these stages, employees from several different districts answered survey questions about their housing areas, salaries and their thoughts on this new solution. Three teachers were able to speak about their experiences in this career and how district housing may or may not solve this state-wide issue.

Districts Start Planning

One district considering the new idea is Berkeley Unified. On February 17th of 2021, the Berkeley school board unanimously voted in approval of a housing project that would bring up to 110 residences for its employees.

Berkeley’s housing market hit an all-time high in April of 2022 when the median price for houses sold in the area neared $1.8 million.Since then the market has slowed slightly, but teachers are still struggling to afford to rent or buy in the area with their current salaries. According to a survey the district did in 2018, 54% of their staff considered leaving the district due to housing prices and 69% of their staff were already living outside of Berkeley due to the cost.

The plan for their development is to build on top of the Berkeley Adult School parking lot. According to the BUSD plan website, they are scheduled to break ground late this year after months of community discussion and securing funds for the development. They hope to complete the development by 2025.

Berkeley is not the only group working on this kind of project. Oakland Unified, Pacifica School District and more districts in San Francisco are also looking closely at how affordable housing could benefit their employees. Oakland Unified launched a programin 2020 that aimed at helping young, upcoming teachers with their housing costs. Earlier this year Pacifica School District was in discussion with their community on building over the Oddstad Elementary School site and making room for district housing as well.

All of these districts cite the teacher shortage as a reason behind their efforts. Pacifica School District in particular hopes to attract specialty teachers and help bring in younger employees who may not be able to afford Pacifica’s rising housing costs.

The District With Housing

Many of these districts are also watching Jefferson Union School District closely. This past spring the district welcomed its first group of employees into their new apartment buildings. Despite living Pacifica, Daly City and San Francisco being so close together, the ranges of district salaries varies greatly in each district. Jefferson Union employees often make less than their neighboring districts, making these new units that much more necessary.

Janice Armas, a special education employee at Terra Nova High School, was one of the teachers offered a unit. This opportunity allowed her and her family to go from a small, overcrowded place with one bathroom to a more spacious area allotted to just her family.

“It really helps us, it's better for us to stay here since the rent is not as big as the others. So it really helps because we can save money for the future of the kids,” Armas said.

Janice was also pleased with the community of teachers that had been formed in the apartment complex.

“When we have celebrations, we go together… So before, if you're just alone, you'll be lonely. But now since they're here, you feel like your spirits have been uplifted because of them. Because even if you have a fear of facing some challenges, they can help you emotionally and they can give you advice.”

The rise in housing and living costs in the Bay Area is not mirrored in district employee salaries. Districts have watched teachers leave, or have no one new apply because they are unable to afford these costs. Not every district is planning for housing though, Contra Costa County teachers have been watching housing prices rise for years.

The Teachers Without It

In Contra Costa County, teachers at the Liberty Union High School District share similar struggles other educators across the nation face today, such as burn-out and the rising cost of living. Starting salaries for teachers begin at $59,728, according to the school district’s salary schedule. A living wage for a single adult with no children in Contra Costa County starts at around $46,488 and doubles to $98,300 with a child.

“The biggest issue is the amount of education required to be an entry-level employee working at a school for what the salary is,” says Jeff Kumagai, a fourth-year band and orchestra teacher at Heritage High School in Brentwood, “So here we have a Bachelor's plus half a Master's degree, if not a full master's degree in some cases. And there are people who go back for their master's degrees, and then we get placed on a salary schedule where depending on where you're living, the starting salary can be as low as $30,000.”

Currently, the district has yet to make plans to build housing for teachers. Rent averages around $2,499 in Contra Costa County, slightly below Oakland at $2,850.

At the beginning of his career as a teacher, Kumagai would commute 30-40 minutes to Tracy from Stockton because the rent in Tracy was out of his budget. However, when he moved to Brentwood, rent became affordable since he moved in with his wife, providing a second income to pay for housing. Now, Kumagai has a two-year-old to take care of.

“If people had told me two years ago, this is what it would cost to raise a child. I would've [asked], ‘Alright, where's the camera? Am I on candid camera?’ And it’s not something that I would've expected,” says Kumagai, “So for, someone who is raising a family, whose wife is also a teacher, I think that [school districts providing housing] would be helpful.”

Chris Fallows teaches theater at Heritage High School and has taught since 1998. His housing situation at the beginning of his career is analogous to educators' struggles with housing today.

Fallows was living in San Jose with his wife and housemates, paying $1,400, equivalent to $2,583 in 2023. What drove him and his wife out of San Jose was when his landlord sent him a letter saying rent would increase to $2,200.

“We went down the street to a house that was for sale and it had the price,” said Fallows, “So I asked, what it would take. What would my salary have to be to qualify to buy the house, which was kind of a fixer-upper. And looking at my salary scale, I would have to have been a 30-year teacher, and my wife would also have to be a 30-year teacher in order for us to qualify. Wow... And I thought, okay, well that's not happening literally ever.”

He then moved to Pittsburg, west of Brentwood, where he could find more affordable housing. Fallows is now on the bargaining team for his teachers' association, where he’s passionate about helping new teachers and increasing educator salaries. He believes the first three years of teaching are the most challenging, and burnout gets easier after those years.

“The burnout's been gotten worse as the meteoric rise of social anxieties and disorders and mental health,” said Fallows, “Literally in the past 15 years, maybe 10…A lot of burnout, it just can wear on people.”

In an anonymous survey taken for this piece of 109 educators across the Bay Area, some shared concerns with district-provided housing and the lack of pay for the level of education needed. One teacher from West Contra Costa Unified School District said, “I do not think most teachers would like their employer to also be their landlord.” Another comment said, “Why is the salary so low for teachers that a professional job that requires a 5th year of education is paid so little, they can't afford to live where they work?”

As the housing crisis has gotten worse and schools face staffing shortages, Fallows believes housing could solve the problems educators face. “Subsidized housing or some kind of housing development or programs could help with that. Because the idea is nobody's ever gonna get rich teaching,” said Fallows, “...My profession is full of happy people. It can be stressful, and it's hard, but I personally wouldn't trade it.”