Durham teacher housing bill clears hurdle. But should schools be in rental business?
A bill that would help some teachers in Durham Public Schools afford an apartment cleared its first hurdle in the legislature Tuesday.
State Rep. MaryAnn Black, a Durham Democrat and primary sponsor of House Bill 31, said housing costs in Durham County have gone up. A recent revaluation found the typical single-family home increased 24.5 percent in value since 2016, while homes near downtown more than doubled in value.
“There’s a lot of gentrification happening there,” she said.
In 2017, the Durham school board liked a State Employees’ Credit Union proposal to build housing for teachers on the former Lowe’s Grove Elementary School site in southern Durham near Research Triangle Park. But the project never happened. Now there could be a chance, if the legislature allows Durham to use public land for the project.
If passed, the bill would let the Durham Public Schools Board of Education provide affordable rental housing for teachers and other DPS employees. The board would decide “reasonable rents for housing units and may in its discretion charge below-market rents.”
Black told the House K-12 Education Committee that one-bedroom apartments would rent for $750 and two-bedroom apartments would rent for $950.
School board member Natalie Beyer said the plan is fundamentally the same as the 2017 plan and is based on similar projects in other counties, some of which are more than a decade old.
“We have the property, and this will enable us to do this more efficiently and quickly,” Beyer said.
Beyer wants to see teacher pay in Durham rise above the national average, but affordable housing would help Durham recruit and retain good teachers while DPS advocates for higher salaries.
“I think affordable housing is one of the most pressing concerns within the Durham community,” she said. “As we work to advocate for stronger state salary schedules, we’re looking for innovative ways to attract and retain educators.”
A draft state report found nearly one in five Durham Public School teachers left their jobs for a variety of reasons last year, more than twice the state average.
Workforce housing
Durham city and county leaders have focused on creating more affordable housing on government land in downtown Durham, including for households at 80 percent area median income and below.
Eighty percent of AMI is considered workforce housing, and teacher salaries are often cited as an example of the salary range. A salary of $39,600 a year for a one-person household is 80 percent of AMI in Durham. A three-person household at 80 percent AMI would have $50,900 in annual income.
Rep. D. Craig Horn, a Union County Republican who co-chairs the education committee, said he is concerned whenever the government “gets in the business of competing with private industry.”
Black said it would be good for Durham.
“For teachers who don’t make the kind of salaries we’d like them to make, they’re getting priced out of the market,” Black said.
But Rep. Hugh Blackwell, a Burke County Republican, thinks allowing public land to be used for affordable housing would erode the Umstead Act, which bars the government from competing with private business.
Michelle Burton, a 24-year veteran teacher and member of the board of directors of the Durham Association of Educators, said affordable housing might help, but wouldn’t solve the problem.
“Will it help with teacher retention? Maybe,” Burton said. “But really, I think the focus should be on respecting teachers and paying them what they’re worth.”
What’s next
The House education committee voted to move the bill on to the state and local government committee, which it would have to clear before moving to the commerce committee.
This story was originally published February 26, 2019 at 5:02 PM.
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