California State Department of Education State Superintendent Tony Thurmond is sponsoring legislation, Senate Bill 502, to help local educational agencies across California address the housing affordability crisis by providing critical funding to support the development of housing for educators and school employees.

Superintendent Thurmond was joined by State Senator Jesse Arreguín, who introduced the bill, California Federation of Teachers Legislative Representative Mitch Steiger, and West Contra Costa Unified School District Board President Leslie Reckler at a press conference today to provide more details about SB 502.

“Ensuring affordable housing for educators and school staff is essential to stabilizing California’s school communities,” said Superintendent Thurmond. “The evidence has shown that educator workforce housing can reduce and even eliminate staffing shortages in our schools. When educators and school staff can live where they work, whole school communities thrive.”

“Housing affordability and the high cost of living make it difficult to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers in our state,” said Senator Arreguín. “With SB 502, we can help school districts get homes built to keep our educators in the communities they serve, benefiting the educational experience of our students.”

SB 502 would allow school districts and LEAs each year to access state homebuilding funds to cover predevelopment costs—such as architectural planning and permit applications—needed to construct affordable housing for school employees. While research has identified 75,000 acres of surplus school lands that could be used for housing, many LEAs lack the necessary funding to cover these initial costs.

California’s housing crisis has disproportionately impacted educators, with housing costs far outpacing salaries. Most school employees are considered “housing cost burdened,” spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Of the 75,000 acres of developable land owned by school districts and county offices of education, 40 percent are in areas with high teacher turnover rates, where the loss of educators disrupts student learning and school stability.

Superintendent Thurmond introduced a housing initiative last year to support affordable housing for educators and the workforce. Superintendent Thurmond’s Housing Working Group has identified predevelopment costs as the single greatest barrier to educator workforce housing.

To share policy recommendations for Superintendent Thurmond’s housing initiative, email Initiatives@cde.ca.gov.