Prospects dimmed for inexpensive housing for San Francisco educators
Building affordable housing for educators in San Francisco – so teachers and staff can afford to live in the city they teach in – was a huge promise that seemed to shine in 2019.
But while four housing projects for educators for The City were in the works at the time, only one made it off the drawing board. The others have fallen victim, at least temporarily, to the pandemic and dire budget crisis in the San Francisco Unified School District.
The survivor is Shirley Chisholm Village, an affordable 135-unit residential building on school lot in Outer Sunset. Construction will begin next year at 1530 43rd Ave. and educators earning between 40% and 120% of the median income in the region – or $ 37,300 to $ 111,900 for a single-person household – will be able to move into the building in 2024, according to nonprofit developer MidPen Housing.
The project, named after the educator and first black woman elected to Congress, was the first of its kind in San Francisco, and 2019 became a parade year for the model. Voters that year approved Proposition A, a $ 600 million affordable housing bond that provided $ 20 million for educator housing. They also passed Proposition E, which enabled affordable housing to be built on public land after a political battle for the region’s middle income qualifications.
Housing for educators “takes action, it takes money,” said Cassondra Curiel, president of the United Educators of San Francisco. “We need city guides who are committed and act accordingly. Ultimately, if we are trying to have a healthy and prosperous city and economy, it means you must have healthy and prosperous workers. “
As early as 2019, the board of directors of the San Francisco Unified School District passed a resolution aiming to develop 550 housing units for teachers and teaching staff by 2030 Lawton Street, a location at 200 Middle Point Road in Bayview and at 20 Cook St.
Then as now, the need is very real. The average annual income of educators and support workers is $ 77,617, according to Housing Our Workers, a new report from advocates and workers groups for affordable housing. This compares to a median income of $ 93,250. In the Bay Area, educators can spend more than half their income on rent and long commutes. These costs have contributed to a 10% annual turnover rate and unstable classrooms.
But the early promise of teachers’ housing was stalled by two factors. COVID hit and stopped much of the momentum. The crisis was exacerbated by the fact that the district was monitored by state administrators because of its structural deficit.
It will be difficult to get the three district land projects moving anytime soon, considering the district must come up with a plan to cut $ 125 million for the next school year by December. In 2019, the school district submitted an application for qualification for future educator apartments, but “currently no further options are being examined for the three locations,” said district spokeswoman Laura Dudnick.
“I don’t think the district will shift (priorities) anytime soon,” said Peter Cohen, co-director of the Community Council of Housing Organizations. “That doesn’t mean that this is the only way to develop teacher housing. Does it have to be on district property? I do not know.”
When asked if and how the Mayor’s Office for Housing and Community Development would step in to continue efforts on the three identified locations, Spokesperson Max Barnes said, “MOHCD is committed to our ongoing partnership with SFUSD to create SFUSD-owned websites for Teachers to develop housing. “
In the meantime, educators can continue to compete for units below the market price through the MOHCD lottery system. This is how Cathy Sullivan, who has been teaching kindergarten at the Grattan Elementary School since 1998, was able to stabilize her apartment.
After two evictions and higher rents when looking for an apartment, Sullivan applied for a low-income apartment in a SoMa building in the early 2000s and was selected. The rent is half the market price, Sullivan said. Even then it was a financial struggle and in the first few years she “ate a lot of beans and rice”.
“It was a complete game changer,” Sullivan said of the acquisition of the low-income unit. “My future in San Francisco would have been questionable if I hadn’t got this apartment. I don’t have to spend an hour in traffic to get here which means I’m a better teacher. I’m relaxed, I’m calm – it’s just a big load off my shoulders. “
Sullivan wants that for everyone, and is focused on repealing the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which restricts rent control across the country, Jobs with Justice was released this week analyzing the impact of high housing costs on low-income workers.
The UC Berkeley Labor Center’s data analysis report found that more than 40% of workers live outside of the city and only 7% of the major San Francisco workers surveyed can afford market rents.
With average rents for a two-bedroom apartment of $ 2,771 per month in October, life in The City is out of reach for those working in the plumbing, security, transportation, healthcare, social work, nonprofits, and those employed in the public service to name a few.
“The educator community really was the first sector of work to focus on housing,” Cohen said. “They recognized early on that the living space threatened the existence of their workers. We hope this Housing Our Workers initiative re-evaluates where the hell our city workers are going to live. It’s about rebuilding the political momentum. “
imojadad@sfexaminer.com
