O.C. Teachers Can Get Help to Buy Homes Near Schools

Across Orange County, 45 public school teachers and principals may get $7,500 from the government to help them buy homes near the schools where they work--as long as they’re willing to spend five years in front of a class at one of the county’s 93 lowest performing schools.

Under a $64-million program funded Tuesday by the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee, 460 educators in Orange and six other counties also will be eligible for loans with interest rates that are one or two percentage points below the usual rate, which could save $1,800 a year in mortgage payments on a $150,000 home.

The plan’s purpose is to induce college graduates to teach in schools with the lowest Stanford 9 test scores. Because of smaller classes and a growing population, a statewide shortage of 250,000 teachers is predicted over the next 10 years--a crunch that disproportionally affects schools attended by poor and minority children.

Some districts in Orange County, such as Santa Ana and Anaheim, already face a shortage of credentialed teachers.

To receive help, the educator cannot have owned a home within the past three years and must meet income limits set by the federal government.

Maximum income allowed in Orange County is $71,665 for a family of one or two, or $82,414 for a family of three or more. The price cannot exceed $250,974 for an existing house or $358,763 for a newly constructed home.

County school officials welcomed the program’s announcement, but many said it wouldn’t be needed if teachers were paid adequately in the first place.

“Because most teachers have traditionally been so undervalued by society, I think this could help,” said Lucy Araujo-Cook, spokeswoman for the Santa Ana Unified School District. Santa Ana accounts for roughly half the low performing schools in the county; 10% of the district’s 3,000 teachers work under emergency credentials.

“If you ask most teachers,” Araujo-Cook added, “I think they would say they just wish they could be paid on par with other professionals . . . so they wouldn’t need measures like this.”

Frank Wells, executive director of the Santa Ana Educators Association, welcomes the program.

“With the high cost of California real estate, it’s difficult for a teacher to buy a home anywhere near where they work, especially a beginning teacher,” he said. The down payment help of $7,500 “is a lot of money to a new teacher.”

Funds could be available to teachers and principals as soon as December or January.

The new state program takes advantage of federal laws that allow tax-exempt financing of private projects that offer a public benefit, such as affordable housing, environmental cleanup, student lending and industrial development.

Times staff writer Doug Smith contributed to this report.