Phoenix (CNN) desperate to find an educator Nationwide shortagean Arizona school district is embarking on an unusual recruitment tool: Tiny Homes for Teachers.

The Chino Valley Unified School District is using federal funding to build 10 studio units of 400 square feet each in a vacant lot behind an elementary school. Teachers pay about $550 a month, which is well below market rents. The homes, which are expected to be completed by early fall, are designed as interim housing, a way to attract more educators to the school than other neighborhoods across the country.

“Districts fight over applicants, but we sometimes get nothing and have to associate with people who are not fully certified,” Chino Valley superintendent John Scholl told CNN. “I hope these 10 credits will help attract and retain teachers that they don’t normally get.”

Advocates for teachers see the job crisis as a symptom of problems in other industries. Low wages, low morale To Declining Professional Respect — should be dealt with instead. I also worry about potential conflicts when the teacher’s boss is also the landlord.

But affordability of housing is still a key hurdle, so officials in Arizona and California have set about building their own housing for teachers. Nevada and Hawaii.

Jason White, a 50-year-old high school English teacher who now lives with his parents outside Phoenix, applied for a teaching position after learning about the Chino Valley project. Without special benefits such as affordable housing, it would be difficult to make ends meet on a teacher’s salary, he says.

“I did my research and I knew I couldn’t afford to live there, so I turned down two jobs already,” White said. I’d like to try for a year, but if things don’t work out, I’ll probably move on and quit teaching.”

where does the money come from

Across Arizona, an estimated 2,890 teacher positions remain vacant as of January. Arizonawhich is 25% of vacancies from the start of this school year

About two hours north of Phoenix, Chino Valley is one of Arizona’s eight school districts as part of a $3 million pilot program in north-central Arizona. Elementary and Junior High School Emergency Relief Fund and the American Rescue Planning Actaccording to Yavapai County School Superintendent Tim Carter.

Each school district can receive up to $500,000 in matching funds to support teacher housing projects as part of the North Central Arizona program.

The Sedona-Oak Creek Unified School District plans to convert an empty school building into 11 apartments for teachers and their families. Initial plans are for studios and one- and two-bedroom homes, with rent calculated based on the household income of the teacher’s family.

In Prescott, six modular homes will soon be built on the fenced lot behind Taylor Hicks Elementary School. Four for teachers, one for police officers and one for firefighters. Each home measures approximately 843 square feet and includes his two bedrooms.

“Most of the teachers we know well are in very rural Arizona and have no housing available at all,” said Clark Tenney, Prescott Unified Vice Superintendent. No. There are a lot of houses, but with median home prices over $600,000, teachers are completely out of the market.”

“Treat the symptom, not the disease”

Teacher housing projects are popping up in other parts of the United States, especially in areas where housing costs are skyrocketing.Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Bill to make it easier for California school districts to build teacher housing.

Bay Area, Jefferson Union High School District Open A 122-unit apartment complex for school staff last spring. The school district said it was nearly full, which helped kick off the new school year with a full staff of classroom teachers for the first time in recent history.

Teacher suggestions have also come from the following districts: Nevada, Hawaii and some other parts California.

But some public education advocates are skeptical of these teacher housing projects.

“Our concern is that professional educators not only work for the school district, but the school district is also the landlord,” said Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association. If your air conditioner doesn’t work, you need to ask your boss to fix it.”

Garcia argues that these projects are bandaging broken systems and missing the root of the problems that alienate teachers.

“We treat the symptom, not the disease,” she said. , because we cannot pay them what they deserve.

new report Despite some pay increases due to the pandemic, the national average public school teacher’s salary will rise by only 2% in the 2021-2022 school year, according to a study by the National Education Association, and by 2022. It will rise another 2.6% from 2020 to 2023, failing to keep up with inflation.

another Analysis of data from eight states We found that more teachers than usual are leaving the classroom after the end of last school year. This confirms concerns repeatedly raised by teachers and advocates across the country.Meanwhile, students are still recovering from the steep learning loss from a pandemic.

Megan Brown, a special education teacher in Tucson, is leaving the special education classroom next month after 12 years of teaching.

“Being a teacher doesn’t have to be about vows of poverty. That’s what it feels like,” Brown said.

She and her firefighter husband live with their parents and are struggling to save money to buy a house and start a family. Her annual income is around $46,000 and her husband makes just over $50,000 of her.

“We can’t both help the profession, so I decided to leave,” she said. It’s hard to know what I can’t do anymore because I truly feel that all children deserve the best education they can get.”

White, who is still running for his job in Chino Valley, agrees. It needs some kind of support that hasn’t been provided…and I hope more districts see that and perhaps follow their lead.”