Housing situation so dire that San Jose wants to turn schools into teacher housing

[cawacko]

Is this not the ultimate "F you I've got mine"? Rich neighborhoods don't want lower income housing built specifically for teachers. You can teach our kids but not live near us.




The housing situation is so dire that San Jose is considering turning schools into teacher housing


The outlandish price of housing in the Bay Area has forced out artists, young people, even local TV news stars, and pretty much everyone in between. Teachers are, of course, no exception and the South Bay's largest school district is feeling the squeeze.

That cost has proven too much time and time again for San Jose Unified teachers. One in seven teachers at the district have to be replaced every year, Superintendent Stephen McMahon told City Lab.

"We're losing dozens when they find out about the cost of living. We're losing even more when they want to start a family," McMahon said in a press conference.


To mitigate the problem, the district is considering turning schools with declining enrollment or aging buildings into sites for new housing. Under the preliminary plan, the schools would be rebuilt on nearby vacant sites or students may be reallocated to other schools.

But not everyone is on board with the district's proposal. Hundreds showed up to a recent community meeting to voice their disapproval, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

Some of the strongest opposition has come from people who live in San Jose's Almaden Valley neighborhood, where two of the eight schools being considered are located: Leland High School and Bret Harte Middle School.

"It is ridiculous," former Leland football coach Mike Carrozzo told the Mercury News. "You're going to build low-income housing in one of the more prosperous areas in the Bay Area, which also happens to be the furthest corner of the district for district teachers. It's crazy."

Comments on a Change.org petition to save the two schools echoes those sentiments. One reads:

"Taking away two fantastic neighborhood schools to bring in low income housing is absolutely ridiculous. There are plenty of other places in San Jose to build. This would devalue home prices in the area significantly. This isn't really a consideration, is it?"

students may be reallocated to other schools.

But not everyone is on board with the district's proposal. Hundreds showed up to a recent community meeting to voice their disapproval, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

Some of the strongest opposition has come from people who live in San Jose's Almaden Valley neighborhood, where two of the eight schools being considered are located: Leland High School and Bret Harte Middle School.

"It is ridiculous," former Leland football coach Mike Carrozzo told the Mercury News. "You're going to build low-income housing in one of the more prosperous areas in the Bay Area, which also happens to be the furthest corner of the district for district teachers. It's crazy."

Comments on a Change.org petition to save the two schools echoes those sentiments. One reads:

"Taking away two fantastic neighborhood schools to bring in low income housing is absolutely ridiculous. There are plenty of other places in San Jose to build. This would devalue home prices in the area significantly. This isn't really a consideration, is it?"

The petition also argues the new location (further south near Challenger School on McKean Road) would be too remote for kids to walk to school and cause traffic backups on one-lane roads.

McMahon and other teachers say they're surprised by the backlash. The superintendent summarized to City Lab how teachers have been feeling about the outcry:

"I'm a person who works with your kid every day. You trust me with your student in my classroom but I'm not good enough to be your neighbor?"

The San Jose Unified Board of Education has a meeting open to the public scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. at its district office, which by the way, is also under consideration as a site to be bulldozed and converted into homes for teachers.


https://www.sfgate.com/expensive-san...h-13318309.php

[Text Drivers are Killers]

Another problem that would be totally solved overnight and at a cost-savings if america would simply enforce the law and remove all the illegal aliens.

[cawacko]

Illegals aren't causing this it's lack of development. It's NIMBYism.

[anonymoose]

Illegals aren't causing this it's lack of development. It's NIMBYism.

I don't see a problem with the proposal as long as the housing is limited to teachers at the school.
Girdwood, Alaska has the same thing for Alyeska Resort workers. No other way they could afford to live in that gem of a town.

[cawacko]

I don't see a problem with the proposal as long as the housing is limited to teachers at the school.
Girdwood, Alaska has the same thing for Alyeska Resort workers. No other way they could afford to live in that gem of a town.

As a home owner myself I get the issue of wanting to keep your property values high but FFS, it's housing teachers.

[anonymoose]

As a home owner myself I get the issue of wanting to keep your property values high but FFS, it's housing teachers.

Agreed. At least you know what you get with them.

[cawacko]

Agreed. At least you know what you get with them.

It can lead to the argument that do other professions deserve preferential housing but in this case they would be building it on the site of a former school.

[Text Drivers are Killers]

Just get rid of the damn illegals like they law mandates. They cause the housing shortage just like they cause highway gridlock and water shortages.

[Irish Exit]

My university built a professor neighborhood because the local housing prices were so expensive it was a deterrent to potential visiting professors. I don't see what the problem is in doing it. I also don't see why it should lower property values significantly. It isn't like teachers are hoodlums. I mean they may fondle the kids, but they aren't going to be breaking into your sheds/poolhouses looking for tools to pawn.