S.F. to Offer Rent-Subsidized Housing to Retain Teachers

In an extraordinary move to stem a teacher exodus and help ensure that educators can afford to live in the community in which they work, San Francisco will become the first public school district in the nation to offer teachers rent-subsidized public housing.

And in another nationwide first, the program is being backed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which will guarantee project bank loans and offer mortgage insurance. Federal officials hope the program will become a national model for school districts in expensive urban areas.

Mary Hernandez, president of the Board of Education for the San Francisco Unified School District, said the housing crunch has forced many teachers to quit and relocate to other areas of the state in the search for affordable homes.

“They’re all heart-wrenching stories and we know they are real,” Hernandez said. “Where we once could do nothing to stop the brain drain, we now think we’ve come up with a solution.”

In September, San Francisco school officials will break ground on a 43-unit apartment building in the Sunset District. It’s next door to the newly renovated Dianne Feinstein Elementary School.

The complex will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments for $700 to $1,300 a month--a relative bargain in a city where the median home price is $540,000 and cramped one-bedroom apartments rent for $1,900 or more.

The units are expected to be finished in 2002 and will be awarded by a lottery, officials say.

While the $15-million housing program has been hailed by teachers union officials who helped negotiate the deal, the concept has been criticized by many of the district’s 4,400 rank-and-file instructors now in salary negotiations. The teachers want any extra money to go toward higher salaries.

Starting teachers with college degrees in San Francisco now earn $31,000 annually and rise to $40,000 after five years. Police officers, by comparison, start at $48,000 and move to $66,000 after five years. Teachers are seeking a 30% increase.

Some teachers worry that the rent-subsidized units will carry the stigma of assisted housing, further reducing the reputation of a low-paying profession.

“The housing offer might be a good idea--at least they’re trying to do something--but I’d rather get the higher pay,” said Con O’Keefe, a 33-year-old math and English teacher at a downtown continuation school. “This whole situation is so discouraging for teachers. We feel like second-class citizens.”

For years, O’Keefe rented a room in the home of an elderly woman. When she moved to a nursing home and put the tiny home up for sale, O’Keefe thought of buying it. Then he learned the reality of the local housing market: The house sold for $500,000.

Now renting a back room of an apartment he shares with two friends, O’Keefe is dispirited. “The rule of thumb is rent should cost a quarter of your salary. Not in San Francisco. Here it can cost you three-fourths of what you make. That’s no way to live.”

Some teachers say the housing plan has the same drawbacks as Gov. Gray Davis’ recent proposal to exempt working teachers from paying state income tax. The governor reworked his plan and the new state budget includes teacher tax credits of $250 to $1,500, depending on their years on the job.

“Teachers aren’t looking for any free ride,” O’Keefe said. “Everyone should pay taxes in this country, including us. Just show us the money--the fair wages--that’s all we ask.”

School officials say they are not offering the subsidy as a substitute for higher wages.

“None of the housing money is coming out of the salary pot,” Hernandez said. “But some teachers are saying they don’t want their vegetables because they think their steak should be bigger. That’s wrongheaded.”

Officials hope the apartments will appeal to teachers of all levels of experience and housing needs. Currently, one-third of the district’s teachers have been on the job for less than five years. Most rented apartments after 1995 when prices began to soar, leaving many to pay steep rents or take on roommates.

“I’ve already gotten a call from a student teacher at San Francisco State wanting to get on our waiting list, [for an apartment],” said district spokeswoman Sandina Robbins. “This person didn’t even have their teaching credential yet. They weren’t even a district employee.

“But for this young would-be teacher, reduced housing will be the make-or-break factor as to whether they can afford to stay in San Francisco. The need out there is incredible.”

District officials have ample land, the most expensive component to building affordable housing, and they are considering using other school-owned properties to eventually build as many as 1,000 teacher-only apartment units.

Federal officials say that while they have worked with local governments and nonprofit groups in the past, they have never before been a partner with school officials in building low-cost housing. They say their loan guarantees mean lower interest rates from banks for the district and an extended 40-year mortgage, again reducing monthly payments.

News of the housing plan has inspired queries from 30 other school districts. “They’re calling from all over the country,” said Larry Bush, a spokesman in the San Francisco office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“In high-cost cities such as Boston and New York, this could be a way to help people avoid two-hour commutes just to get to work from far-flung--if affordable--communities. This could well prove to be a national model.”

Kent Mitchell, president of United Educators of San Francisco, said he favors any effort to boost the quality of life for area teachers.

“Think of a person graduating from college with $60,000 in debts, taking a $30,000 starting teaching salary,” he said. “The inspiration and excitement of teaching carries you for a while. But when you start thinking of having a family, you look around San Francisco and admit to yourself: I can’t do that here.”

The result, he said, is mass defection to places where housing is more affordable.

“We’re supplying Sacramento and the Central Valley with experienced teachers we can’t afford to lose,” Mitchell said.