SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco housing crisis has created obstacles for San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) as the district continues to search for qualified teachers.
According to a report by San Francisco KTVU, the district is struggling to find 51 teachers to fill vacancies before the academic year begins on August 17. The most difficult positions to fill, according to district spokeswoman Gentle Blythe, have been math and bilingual education for high school students.
School District Superintendent Richard Carranza has even asked SFUSD teachers to refer potential candidates in order to widen the district’s candidate pool. According to Carranza, 60 applications have been submitted as of August 3.
The difficulty the SFUSD is having in their search for educators may be due in part to San Francisco’s housing crisis.
“I live in a studio where half [my] income goes to paying rent,” middle school counselor Katie Waller told KTVU. “The way the housing market is going, it is going to force me to leave and look at other districts.”
Teachers’ salaries often can’t keep up with the rising cost of rent in San Francisco. According to leading job site Indeed, as of August 4, the average salary for a San Francisco teacher is approximately $73,000. That’s 33 percent higher than the average teacher’s salary for nationwide job postings. Indeed’s reports show that most teaching positions make between $26,000-$50,000.
According to recent reports conducted by Rent Jungle, the average price of a one-bedroom apartment stands at $3,213 per month, and $4,385 for a two-bedroom apartment.
The district is aware of this dilemma. Blythe says that the district is especially concerned that younger teachers, who are just starting their career and have fewer safety nets, may be pushed out of the district due to the high cost of living. On top of that, Blythe says, there may just be fewer teachers looking for jobs. The recession drove many college students away from a teaching career due to a lack of job prospects, leaving fewer new teachers to fill vacancies.
Despite these worries, the district hopes that with the new teacher referral program, all positions will be filled by the start of the academic year.
