California school properties could be converted into housing for educators

(FOX40.COM) - The California Department of Education has announced an initiative to turn land owned by local education agencies into housing for education workers.

The department says local education agencies own roughly 75,000 acres of “developable land” that could be used to create over 2 million housing units across the state.

"We know that families across our state are impacted, from the homelessness crisis facing our urban areas, to the long commute times impacting families priced out of once-affordable neighborhoods, to the staffing crisis in schools whose educators can't afford to live where they work,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said. “I believe that California has enough resources and ingenuity to solve this, and the data shows that California's schools have the land to make this happen.”

The agency said a school district in San Mateo County recently saw success filling all its teaching vacancies after building a 122-unit housing project last year.

The San Jose Unified School District is placing a property tax measure on the upcoming November ballot that would raise $1.5 billion part of which would go to funding for affordable housing for educators if it passes.

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