The Californian school district Daly City is housing elementary school teachers on the very grounds of the schools where they educate. In response to the state’s growing teacher retention problem, the district, located in San Francisco Bay’s San Mateo Country, opened up a new housing complex called Eastmoor Heights.
The new affordable housing complex includes 56 units, a courtyard, community room, laundry room and play area for children of teachers. For educators at Margaret Pauline Brown Elementary School, the new complex also includes an stress-free commute, as the complex is located right across the street from the school.
Though this accessible and affordable living arrangement might sound dreamy, the new housing development is met with controversy and skepticism from teachers nation-wide. Why? Because many believe it sounds dystopian and doesn’t tackle the root problems of low teacher retention.
The confinement of teachers to a shared living complex in close proximity to school may come with many problems including a loss of privacy, independence, safety concerns and poor balance of work and home life. In fact, the latter is already an issue, as 54% of American K-12 teachers report struggles balancing their work and home life, according to surveys conducted by Pew Research in April of this year.
Seventy percent of these same teachers also say their school is understaffed, a problem others believe cannot be fixed by closer, affordable housing. Though the new complex may alleviate California’s high cost of living and gas prices, it doesn’t address what many teachers truly care about: salaries.
As of 2022, the cost of living in California was around $53,000 a year, whereas the average salary for Californian public school teachers as of 2024 is $64,000. This doesn’t leave much cushion for other expenses and leisure activities; hence why many teachers would prefer more comprisable salaries to new housing close to their schools.
One teacher on X listed many disadvantages to living near school campus as a teacher like surveillance on personal activities like dating and partying.
“It’s also a safety hazard,” she commented on her post. “Because disgruntled parents would know where the teachers live. Students would know where teachers lived. In an age of school shootings, shooters would know where the teachers lived… unless the rent is free, no teacher should be in a situation where the public school district they work for is their landlord.”
Other users are comparing the homes to company towns were corporations monopolized control of all town businesses from grocery stores to healthcare facilities, practically controlling the entire population. The fear here is that school districts owning these new units would become like a “company”.
Yeah WTF?!? This is a literal nightmare. (I'm a teacher.)
— Lenore G (@Fancydelic) August 8, 2024
Outside of Twitter, it seems that many other teachers nation-wide from states like Colorado to Arkansas are also in the process of developing teacher housing, making this seemingly strange idea more common that one might think.
In March, USA Today reported on one elementary school teacher from Kansas, Kareem Wall, who worked two jobs and used his classroom as a place to sleep at night, as he was homeless. He was able to access teacher-catered housing via a non-profit and believes this accessibility will make it easier for him to continue his role as an educator.
Brian Kerekes, a high school teacher from Osceola Country, Florida, expressed the desire for teacher housing in his country, as he and his wife cannot afford their apartment, which they share with a roommate.
Though teacher housing is popping up in other states, it seems California remains a hub and starting ground for it. The Los Angeles School District has duplexes for teachers and Terra Nova High school in Pacifica, California, has “dorms” for teachers just 10 minutes away. As educators, it begs the question: are teachers losing the balance between “school life” and their personal ones?
Regardless of the answer, affordable housing for teachers remains a problem. Though the idea of teacher housing has been in effect for years, its rise is increasing faster more than ever, perhaps encouraging skeptics to view these projects as steps towards equity rather than steps towards dystopia.
As of now, it appears most of the Jefferson Elementary School District teachers are pleased and excited for the new housing, according to CBS News. It’s up in the air whether or not this satisfaction will last, but only time will tell if this new experiment will be a success.
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