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Some US Schools Build Housing to Keep Teachers

时间:2022-08-04 03:15:02

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Some US Schools Build Housing1 to Keep Teachers

Recently, a high school teacher in California's San Francisco Bay area moved out of a small apartment that she shared and into her own place.

For 41-year-old Lisa Raskin, a San Francisco native, this was once an impossible dream. In the city of San Francisco, property is very costly2. Rent payments4 are high. And there is resistance5 to new housing.

But now, Raskin pays $1,500 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. And her new home is within walking distance of her job.

She told the Associated Press, or AP, "I have a sense of community, which I think is more valuable than anything else. More districts really need to consider this model. I think it shows educators that they value them."

Her employer6 is a 4,000-student school district south of San Francisco. In May, that district made 122 apartments available for its teachers and workers.

Experts are calling it "workforce7 housing." It is rare, but workforce housing is appearing in other parts of the U.S.

In the state of West Virginia in a town called Welch, the American Federation8 of Teachers, AFT, recently helped to open a building with apartments and shops for teachers. Welch officials say they hope the housing and shopping complex will bring economic development to the town.

Teachers were traveling "hours and hours to get to school and back," said Randi Weingarten. She is the AFT labor9 union president.

The Jefferson Union High School District in Daly City, California also supplies workforce housing for teachers and workers.

"It's like a great gift coming from the district," said math teacher Eleonor Obedoza. She was speaking about the new three-bedroom apartment that her family rents.

Jeff Vincent is co-founder and director of the Center for Cities & Schools at the University of California, Berkeley. Vincent said workforce housing is rare. But, he expects more school districts to explore offering affordable10 housing. He said, when teachers live in the communities where they work, they can get to know students and families better.

Currently11 in many parts of the U.S., there is a lack of teachers and affordable housing. So, some school districts want to find and keep educators by offering them workforce housing. They could serve as a model for other school districts in the country.

But such projects also face problems. Some people living in the districts do not want affordable housing for teachers and workers. Vincent said there are those who question "whether schools should be doing this with their land."

About one fourth of the 500 employees at Jefferson Union High School District were leaving every year. The district could not keep teachers from moving to schools that could pay more.

So in the school year starting in 2017, officials came up with a plan to find and keep teachers. This plan included a $75 million housing complex for teachers and workers. It was paid for in part by a $30 million bond12 measure approved by voters in 2018. That means the local government borrowed the money.

But the district also has a bigger plan. It wants to lease13 school property for a 1,200-unit complex that would mix shops and restaurants with housing. The housing would be sold at full market price. The district says this plan would also create enough money to increase teacher pay.

However, the Sierra Club's local office and others oppose the plan. The environmental organization wants more housing at below-market rents and taller buildings to preserve more open space.

"It's terrible the schools have to come up with schemes to build housing to pay teachers," said Gladwyn d'Souza, a member of the Sierra Club. She supports workforce housing. But she said there should be more affordable homes for everyone.

People living at the school district workforce housing complex can stay up to five years. After that time, they might have saved enough money for a down payment3 on a house.

But houses are also becoming more costly to buy.

In 2016, the real estate14 company Redfin released15 a study. It found that an average teacher's salary of $62,800 could pay for only 20 percent of homes for sale in major U.S. cities. That percentage was down from 34 percent in 2012.

California lawmakers in 2016 made it easier for districts to build workforce housing on school property. Five workforce housing complexes currently exist in Los Angeles, Santa Clara, and San Mateo county16 school districts.

This summer, San Francisco Unified17 School District plans to start building a 135-unit complex for educators. It could be ready in 2024 — two years behind later than planned.

Cassondra Curiel is president of United Educators of San Francisco, a labor rights group. She told the AP, "It was a fight to get it...And it'll be great for those folks who get in there." But she added, "...[I]t's not enough."

Melissa Kallstrom is the mother of a student in a San Francisco area school district. She does not object to new homes for educators. But she objects to plans to tear up the community garden. She and others say the garden provides rare green space.

Lisa Raskin, who teaches health and social science, understands that change is difficult. She grew up in San Francisco's Mission18 District. It used to be a working-class neighborhood. Now, it is too costly for her to live there by herself.

During the pandemic, Raskin moved out of her mother's house to share an apartment with a friend. But the living space was small. Raskin said the chance to move into a place of her own was like hitting the jackpot, or winning a big prize.

"This is mine," she said.

Words in This Story

apartment –n. a usually rented room or set of rooms that is part of a building and is used as a place to live

district –n. an area established by a government for official government business

rent –n. money that you pay in return for being able to use property and especially to live in an apartment or house that belongs to someone else

affordable –adj. something that can be paid for without too much difficulty

scheme –n. the way that something is arranged or organized

lease –v. a legal agreement that lets someone use a car, house, or property for a period of time in return for payment

unit –n. one of a number of apartments in a building

down payment –n. a first payment that you make when you buy something with an agreement to pay the rest later


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1 housing YqzzxS     
n.房屋,住宅;住房建筑;外壳,外罩
参考例句:
  • Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗?
  • The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来,房屋的销售量日趋减少。
2 costly 7zXxh     
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的
参考例句:
  • It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
  • This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用,左不过贵了些。
3 payment qL4xJ     
n.付款,支付,偿还,偿还,报应
参考例句:
  • I gave ten pounds in payment for the goods I bought.我买那些东西付了10英镑。
  • This last payment will wipe out your debt to me.这最后一笔付款将了结你欠我的债务。
4 payments 84d5eaf713c96eecb3d2c4a83e64dc9a     
n.支付,付款,缴纳,报酬( payment的名词复数 );付出的[要付出的]款项;报答,报偿
参考例句:
  • Welfare payments cease as soon as an individual starts a job. 一旦就业,即停发福利救济。
  • The law can compel fathers to make regular payments for their children. 这项法律可强制父亲定期支付子女的费用。
5 resistance UWlxi     
n.抵抗力,反抗,反抗行动;阻力,电阻;反对;adj.抵抗的
参考例句:
  • Very little resistance was put up by the enemy.敌人没怎么进行抵抗。
  • An aircraft has to overcome the resistance of the air.飞机须克服空气的阻力。
6 employer ItNzrt     
n.雇用方,雇主
参考例句:
  • My employer deducted ten pounds from my wages this week.我的雇主从我本周的工钱中扣除了十英镑。
  • His monthly salary is paid into the bank by his employer.他的月薪由雇主替他存入银行。
7 workforce workforce     
n.劳动大军,劳动力
参考例句:
  • A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
  • A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。
8 federation htCzMS     
n.同盟,联邦,联合,联盟,联合会
参考例句:
  • It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
  • Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。
9 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
10 affordable kz6zfq     
adj.支付得起的,不太昂贵的
参考例句:
  • The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
  • There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。
11 currently SvMzI2     
adv.通常地,普遍地,当前
参考例句:
  • Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
  • Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。
12 bond utOzP     
n.结合,债券,契约,粘合剂,保证人,键,关栈保留;vt.存入关栈,粘着;vi.结合
参考例句:
  • This glue makes a good firm bond.这种胶水粘得很结实。
  • His word is his bond.他是讲信用的。
13 lease e9xz1     
n.租约,租期,租;v.出租,租出,租得
参考例句:
  • When does the lease of the house run out?这房子的租约何时到期?
  • He signed the lease yesterday.昨天他在租约上签了字。
14 estate InSxv     
n.所有地,地产,庄园;住宅区;财产,资产
参考例句:
  • My estate lies within a mile.我的地产离那有一英里。
  • The great real estate brokers do far more than this.而优秀的房地产经纪人做得可比这多得多。
15 released 23690fd759f17135ec9879b56ff2600c     
v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 );放开;发布;发行
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他,这倒容易。
16 county kO0zE     
n.县,郡
参考例句:
  • When the good news reached there,the whole county rejoiced.喜讯传到那里时,全县的人都欢欣鼓舞起来。
  • In that year county after county fell to the enemy.那一年一个又一个的县城沦入敌人手中。
17 unified 40b03ccf3c2da88cc503272d1de3441c     
(unify 的过去式和过去分词); 统一的; 统一标准的; 一元化的
参考例句:
  • The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
  • The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。
18 mission fDIxX     
n.使命,任务,天职;代表团,使团
参考例句:
  • He was charged with an important mission.他受委托承担一项重要使命。
  • I'll leave you to undertake an important mission.我要让你承担一项重要使命。

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