CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte City Council on Monday night passed a budget that includes committing $1 million in accumulated interest from stimulus funds to support an effort to build workforce housing for teachers struggling under the strain of the economy.
The idea of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teaming up with the city of Charlotte to develop the first affordable housing development for teachers has sparked a lot of excitement on social media.
Channel 9 reporter Jonathan Lowe spoke by phone with a CMS teacher who asked to remain anonymous. She said she's not sure teacher villages are the right answer.
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“I think it's fair to say they need to look at this with a little more perspective before they move forward,” the teacher said. “A solution for 100 people doesn't address the whole picture.”
The proposed development would be a 100-unit apartment complex for teachers who earn 60-80% of the area median income — a category that includes more than 9,000 CMS teachers.
Many online comments argue that teacher villages are a band-aid measure that doesn't address the larger problem.
But CMS Education Committee Chair Stephanie Snead said the proposal was based on data from last year's teacher insight survey.
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Of the 5,000 people who responded, 93% said housing costs were their most important consideration, and 61% said housing costs could affect whether they would continue to work with CMS.
“I don't think there will be a lot of opposition because the decision for this pilot project is definitely based on data,” Snead explained. “These are apartments that everyone wants to live in.”
The median home price in Shallotte is just over $1,400 per month, and the annual salary requirement is more than $61,000, although the average CMS teacher salary is around $46,000.
“This is not going to solve the teacher pay issue,” Snead said.
But Snead said it was just a pilot idea and that if it was successful it could be expanded.
But some teachers in the district don't believe that's the solution.
“Unless we address statewide issues like teacher promotions and the ability to earn a livable wage, teachers will continue to leave,” one teacher said.
CMS will invest $1.5 million worth of land in the project and build a teachers village there.
The site selected must be approved by the Board of Education. The district hopes to have the project completed by 2027.
VIDEO: Proposed 'Teacher Village' would create affordable housing for CMS teachers
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