Print ArticleSACRAMENTO - Teachers who are priced out of their schools´ neighborhoods could see shorter commutes to their classrooms in the future if state Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico´s (D-Newark) AB 1112 becomes law. The bill passed the state Senate today 21 to 15 and now moves to the Assembly for concurrence.
Under the bill, school and community college districts would be allowed to request voter approval of bonds that would finance the acquisition or construction of housing for their teachers and district employees. The bonds would need to be approved by two-thirds of the voters in the district.
"This is a creative way to help those teachers who are priced out of their school districts´ housing market to afford to move closer to their classrooms," Torrico said. "When teachers have to drive an hour or more to and from work, it has a negative effect on their school community. Rather than spending time on the freeway, they could be spending more time with students and extra-curricular activities. The bill promotes local control and allows communities to decide if they want to take this step which could improve recruiting and retention of teachers."
Currently, there is no authorization under present law for a school district to issue its bonds to construct or acquire residential housing for teachers and other district employees.
"Assemblymember Torrico´s legislation helps schools in two ways," said David Pava, interim superintendent of the New Haven Unified School District. "It would give us the ability to offer our employees a quality housing option, close to where they work, which would help us retain teachers and classified employees. And the income would help us offset maintenance costs district-wide, which would enable us to focus more of our existing resources on teaching and learning."
Other districts are also supportive of having this added local option.
"Assembly Bill 1112 would create an innovative initiative that supports children´s education by addressing teacher housing needs," said Eric Bakke, a senior legislative analyst with the Los Angeles Unified School District. "The challenge facing our teachers, and ultimately our children, is the severe lack of affordable housing in the neighborhoods where our children reside due to the scarcity of available land. The lack of affordable housing results in teachers needing to seek employment elsewhere, thereby reducing the number of highly qualified teachers in our district. This bill will assist in highly qualified teachers remaining in their neighborhood schools, and the district would be able to recruit more highly qualified teachers to areas not previously considered affordable."
Under the bill, school and community college districts would be allowed to request voter approval of bonds that would finance the acquisition or construction of housing for their teachers and district employees. The bonds would need to be approved by two-thirds of the voters in the district.
"This is a creative way to help those teachers who are priced out of their school districts´ housing market to afford to move closer to their classrooms," Torrico said. "When teachers have to drive an hour or more to and from work, it has a negative effect on their school community. Rather than spending time on the freeway, they could be spending more time with students and extra-curricular activities. The bill promotes local control and allows communities to decide if they want to take this step which could improve recruiting and retention of teachers."
Currently, there is no authorization under present law for a school district to issue its bonds to construct or acquire residential housing for teachers and other district employees.
"Assemblymember Torrico´s legislation helps schools in two ways," said David Pava, interim superintendent of the New Haven Unified School District. "It would give us the ability to offer our employees a quality housing option, close to where they work, which would help us retain teachers and classified employees. And the income would help us offset maintenance costs district-wide, which would enable us to focus more of our existing resources on teaching and learning."
Other districts are also supportive of having this added local option.
"Assembly Bill 1112 would create an innovative initiative that supports children´s education by addressing teacher housing needs," said Eric Bakke, a senior legislative analyst with the Los Angeles Unified School District. "The challenge facing our teachers, and ultimately our children, is the severe lack of affordable housing in the neighborhoods where our children reside due to the scarcity of available land. The lack of affordable housing results in teachers needing to seek employment elsewhere, thereby reducing the number of highly qualified teachers in our district. This bill will assist in highly qualified teachers remaining in their neighborhood schools, and the district would be able to recruit more highly qualified teachers to areas not previously considered affordable."
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