Our view: Housing for teachers a long-overdue goal
An affordable housing program for teachers in long overdue.
A proposal by Beaufort County School District Superintendent Jeff Moss would provide two-bedroom bungalows to teachers for about $800 per month. Similarly sized apartments rent for around $1,000 in Bluffton and Hilton Head Island, according to Brian Tierney, owner of ForeShore Realty.
Moss is short on details at this point, saying he would like to first make the presentation to the school board at its Dec. 8 meeting. But he did say the program would not require any money from the district's budget. Instead, grant dollars and other unidentified funding sources would be tapped.
The program would likely start small with a pilot project and grow if it proves successful.
The affordable housing shortage is a long-standing problem that needs a solution.
An analysis by The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette in May revealed that Beaufort County has the state's highest cost-of-living. And as teacher after teacher told the newspapers, the district's average teacher salary of $50,000 isn't enough to cover decent housing, groceries and other necessities.
Many teachers the papers interviewed worked second jobs, even third jobs, to make ends meet. The result: overly tired teachers who said they just couldn't keep up with the needs of their students.
Other teachers are throwing their hands up in despair and walking away from Beaufort County schools. One out of every 10 teachers left the district after the 2014-15 school year.
District leaders say scant affordable housing also played a role in the 43 teachers who were offered teaching contracts for the current school year but ultimately turned them down.
We have long advocated for the district doing more to retain teachers. For example, its decision last year to offer teachers and classified employees a $1,000 living supplement is laudable. An additional $1,000 will be added each year for the next four years until all staff members receive a $5,000 supplement annually.
The supplements are a step in the right direction. But, as teachers attest, we must do more if we want to keep our best and brightest in the classroom.
Study after study has shown that what teachers know and can do is the most important influence on what students learn. If we want our students to have the best chance at success, we must tend to our teachers' needs.
May 28, 2015 Squeezed out: 1 in 10 Beaufort County School District teachers leaving at year's end | READ
This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 4:20 PM with the headline "Our view: Housing for teachers a long-overdue goal."