Wake County leaders want to build affordable housing for teachers and public school employees. The idea was presented earlier this week to a joint meeting of the Wake County School Board and Wake County Board of Commissioners. During the meeting a proposal was reviewed to have WCPSS donate land near five schools and have the county build affordable housing for teachers, public school employees and the public
It’s a bad idea for many reasons.
First let’s acknowledge that housing is expensive in Wake County. Not only for teachers, but most everyone who lives here. It’s not difficult to understand why teachers — or anyone else paid a similar salary – would find it difficult to find an apartment or house.
Wake County has a housing problem. However, having Wake County build affordable housing for teachers and others is not the solution.
For one, there are legal challenges. County leaders have come out and said they do not have the legal authority to give priority for housing to teachers over other professionals. Why should government play favorites? Even if the legal challenges were resolved, wouldn’t it mean more competition for a fixed number of units? While individual benefits may accrue for families, does anyone really expect a limited number of units will remedy the housing crunch in Wake County?
Let’s remember: the expertise of schools and county governments is in educating students and administering programs –not in real estate. Counties and school districts have no expertise in real estate, managing properties, performing building repairs and serving as landlords. Are school districts or counties willing to take on the additional financial liability to ensure housing is up to code, building repairs are made and legal representation is available for financial lawsuits? These are difficult and often expensive responsibilities which will only take away valuable resources and personnel from schools and county government
Wake County leaders misdiagnose housing as a cost-of-living issue. While the average paycheck can pay for cheap consumer goods, pay has not kept pace with the rising cost of essential services like housing, childcare and healthcare. It’s not a cost-of-living issue. It’s a salary issue. Rather than spending millions of dollars on land acquisition, construction, maintenance and for personnel to administer a program, wouldn’t the money be better spent to increase teacher salaries?
The fact is, any long-term solution for teacher housing must also address teacher pay. Currently, teachers are paid on a salary schedule where pay is tied to years of service and credentials. Such a system is overly rigid and benefits only teachers’ unions — not teachers or the school systems that employ them. It rewards teachers not for good teaching but for years of service and degrees or certifications, factors largely unrelated to academic outcomes.
That 111 of 115 school districts provide salary supplements for teachers speaks volumes about its shortcomings and inability to adjust to individual labor markets. School districts need greater control over how and how much teachers are paid. Without it, we should only expect more of the same.
The joint school board-County proposal may be well-intentioned; however, but it offers only a band aid solution and brings adverse economic impacts. Such proposals force builders to designate a portion of new homes at below-market prices. In so doing, it discourages home construction and drives up home prices.
A far better option would be for Wake County to make real efforts to remove burdensome zoning regulations, expensive permitting and development costs and advocate for a better way to pay teachers. Without efforts on those fronts, expect housing to continue to be high-priced and out-of-reach for many in Wake County.
For more solving North Carolina’s housing crisis see here, here and here.
For more on why building teacher housing is a bad idea see here .
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