Bay Area School District Asks Parents to Rent Rooms to Teachers Struggling With Rising Costs

A California school district in the Bay Area is encouraging parents to rent spare rooms to teachers struggling with rising rent costs in the area. According to the Daily Mail, the Milpitas Unified School District informed parents of their intentions and mentioned that the district recently lost seven teachers to less costly locales. 

District superintendent Cheryl Jordan said it is also challenging to recruit new staff because of the high cost of housing. She explained, “We’ve lost out on some employees that we tried to recruit because once they see how much it costs to live here, they determine that it’s just not possible.”

With landlords typically expecting a renter to earn 40 times the monthly rent in a year and Milpitas teacher wages for the most recent academic year starting at $67,163, an instructor could spend up to $1,679/month in an area where a one-bedroom generally costs around $3,000/month. Rental prices are even higher in nearby San Francisco. To cover the average cost of a one-bedroom, an individual would need to make $120,000 annually. According to the district’s collective bargaining agreement, teachers with master’s degrees would need to work for more than 20 years to earn that much.

On the homepage of the school district’s website, there is currently a link labeled “Submit a room for rent.” Users can click to access a form to enter their name, address, the number of rooms available, the rent they are charging, and any other requirements or preferences for potential tenants. Jordan claims they have already had some success, stating, “So far, we’ve had 34 respondents who are interested in providing a room or small space on their property for our educators if needed.”

Earlier this year, Richmond, another Bay Area city, asked residents to take in homeless people through a local program that would provide compensation for those who participate. However, residents voiced severe concern about the risks of housing strangers.

 

Join The Discussion

Related Posts
Total
6
Share