CLOSE
Everything old is new again, goes the oft-used saying.
That comes to mind as the Durham Public Schools board explores a proposal by the State Employees Credit Union to build affordable housing for teachers on the site of the former Lowes Grove Elementary School in southern Durham.
SECU has been a modern pioneer in resurrecting communal housing for teachers. Since 2006, according to a case study prepared in 2013 for the State Board of Education, the credit union has partnered with local nonprofits and school districts to build four apartment complexes in Hertford, Dare and Hoke counties.
It’s an idea with roots in the late 19th century.
“The concept of communal teacher housing developed during the late 1800s,” according to the case study by Azaria Verdin and Ryan Smith. “Prior to that, ‘boarding around’ was a common practice for teachers in rural communities. ... families shared the responsibility of providing food and lodging for their children’s teachers. Dissatisfaction with that arrangement eventually led to the construction of ‘teacherages’ across the nation.”
The first teacherage was built in Nebraska in 1894. By 1922, Verdin and Smith wrote, “there were nearly 3,000 teacherages across the United States.” (A house in Mebane used as a teacherage in the 1940s and 1950s still stands on Jackson Street.)
The inspiration for teacher housing today is similar but also is part of a larger conversation about affordable housing for workers in vital but relatively low-paying professions such as teaching. Stagnant pay for teachers, although their pay has gained some ground recently, has helped fuel interest in providing lower-cost housing as an inducement that can help a school district recruit and retain teachers.
Under that proposal, SECU would partner with CASA, a developer and residential property manager, to initially build 24 one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.
For all the appeal of the idea, board Vice Chairwoman Natalie Beyer pointed to the overhanging truth: This is driven by a pay scale for teachers that many believe undervalues their contribution.
“I think we have to stop the narrative of teachers and law enforcement folks go into work because it’s heroic but actually compensate them for what they are due,” she said.
We concur but think the school district is pursuing an innovative approach to the issue.
The Herald-Sun of Durham
Hello reader, our article commenting that you would normally see here is temporarily shut down. We still want to hear from you, so we invite you to go to our Facebook page or submit a letter to the editor.