SB 1413, as amended, Leno. School districts: employee housing.
Existing law establishes various housing and home loan programs throughout the state to help low-income families and other specified groups. Existing law authorizes the governing board of any school district, when leasing a building for housing of school district employees, to lease the building for any period they deem necessary.
This bill would authorize a school district to establish and implement programs, as provided, that address the housing needs of teachers and school district employees who face challenges in securing affordable housing.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the
2changes made by this act are necessary in order to provide
3affordable housing opportunities to teachers and other school
4district employees.
5(b) California places a high value on our public education
6system, and the stability of housing for school employees is critical
7to the overall success and stability of each school in California.
8(c) The supply of new preschool through grade 12 teachers in
9California has hit a 12-year low, and enrollment in educator
10preparation programs has dropped by more than 70 percent over
11the
last decade, and this shortage most impacts schools serving
12more low-income and minority students.
13(d) Demand for teachers and staff is projected to grow further
14as school districts continue to recover from the recession and seek
15to replace previously eliminated programs and positions. Districts
16are also coping with attrition, which averages about 8 percent of
17all teachers annually. This attrition includes inevitable retirements,
18as fully one-third of California teachers are over 50 years of age
19and 10 percent are over 60 years of age, but most attrition is due
20to younger teachers leaving.
21(e) A growing trend driving teacher turnover is the steadily
22increasing cost of housing in certain markets. In addition to the
23negative emotional and developmental impacts teacher turnover
24has
on students, the costs borne by school districts to recruit, hire,
25and train new teachers each summer is immense. In San Francisco
26alone, during the summer of 2015, the school district had to recruit,
27hire, and train 700 new teachers. Many cited housing costs as the
28reason why the teacher was leaving the school district.
29(f) Students and the community at large are benefited by teachers
30living in the community in which they practice their profession.
31It ensures stability, community involvement, and stronger ties
32between teachers, their students, and their families.
33(g) By creating affordable housing options for teachers near or
34on schoolsites, it also reduces vehicle miles traveled and time away
35from teachers’ homes, thereby reducing or eliminating commute
36time.
Part 14 (commencing with Section 53570) is added to
38Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
This part may be cited as the Teacher Housing Act of
42016.
(a) The purpose of this part is to facilitate the
6acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of
7affordable rentalbegin delete housing,end deletebegin insert housingend insert for teachers and school district
8employees to allow teachers or school district employees to access
9and maintain housing stability.
10(b) A program established under this part shall be restricted to
11“teacher or school district employees.”
As used in this part:
13(a) “Affordable rental housing” means a rental housing
14development, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 50675.2,
15with a majority of its rents restricted to levels that are affordable
16to persons and families of low or moderate income, as defined in
17Section 50093, but neither definition is restrictive to only projects
18with five or more units.
19(b) “Teacher or school district employee” means any person
20employed by a unified school district maintaining prekindergarten,
21transitional kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, an
22elementary school district maintaining prekindergarten, transitional
23
kindergarten, and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, or a high school district
24maintaining grades 9 to 12, inclusive, including, but not limited
25to, certificated and classified staff.
A school district may establish and implement programs
27that address the housing needs of teachers and school district
28employees who face challenges in securing affordable housing.
29To the extent feasible, the school district may establish and
30implement programs that, among other things, do the following:
31(a) Leverage federal, state, and local public, private, and
32nonprofit programs and fiscal resources available to housing
33developers.
34(b) Promote public and private partnerships.
35(c) Foster innovative financing opportunities.
This part specifically creates a state policy supporting
37housing for teachers and school district employees, as described
38in Sectionbegin delete 42(g)(9)(B)end deletebegin insert 42(g)(9)end insert of the Internal Revenue Code, and,
39further, permits school districts and developers in receipt of local
40or state funds or tax credits designated for affordable rental housing
P4 1to restrict occupancy to teachers and school district employees on
2land owned by school districts, so long as that housing does not
3violate any other applicable laws.
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