Housing isn’t just a hot topic of conversation here in San Diego. It’s an urgent public education issue! As the cost of living continues to soar, educators and the communities we serve are being priced out of San Diego. SDEA members are fighting back, not only for higher wages, but for systemic solutions that allow educators, students, and families to stay, live, and thrive in their communities.
Housing justice for educators & communities
In recent years, San Diego Unified has seen significant drops in enrollment (and corresponding funding), in part because many families can’t afford the cost of living in San Diego. Educators are struggling to stay, too. Across California, housing costs continue rising, while educator pay remains stagnant. CTA recently published educator pay reports highlighting the deep impact of chronic underfunding in public education. Turnover and long commutes undermine stable classrooms and student learning. Improving educator pay is a key pillar of our statewide fight to increase funding for public education, but it’s only one piece of a larger fight for housing justice.
Charts from this fact sheet about educator pay in California.
Common Good Bargaining: Going beyond the basics
By law, the District must negotiate with union educators over wages, benefits, and working conditions. At SDEA, we haven’t stopped at the bare minimum. SDEA has a proud history of also fighting for issues that affect our broader school communities, like housing, public health, and racial justice. Our success in “Common Good” bargaining is a sign of our collective power, and our communities need that power now more than ever.
What we’ve won, and what comes next
In Spring of 2024, SDEA secured a Housing Supports Agreement with the District that included:
- Workforce housing funded by Measure U, which has provided some members the chance to live near where they teach.
- Safe sleeping sites on District properties, for unhoused students and their families. The City of San Diego has stalled on its end of the agreement, but SDEA members and community partners from the Education Justice Coalition kept up the pressure. Even this bare-minimum solution (using an empty parking lot) still has not come to fruition. As of June 2025, the City has put the safe sleeping site in their modified budget and it may finally happen.
In response to ongoing advocacy, the SDUSD Board recently approved plans to build more than 1,500 affordable housing units on district-owned land. SDEA’s Housing Committee is pushing the District to go even further: Waiving application fees, prioritizing educators experiencing housing insecurity, and and providing mixed-income housing that reflects the diversity of our school communities. Without intentional efforts to address systemic inequalities, housing solutions will perpetuate housing insecurity in our communities.
Housing + Education = A statewide conversation
San Diego’s housing crisis isn’t unique. Across California, union educators are organizing around housing and finding creative solutions using District resources. Recent studies and statewide initiatives highlight the underutilized properties owned by districts across California, and more Districts could be collaborating on workforce housing. We’ll need to continue leveraging our collective power at the bargaining table and through pressure on elected officials at every level, to ensure that every available resource is used to meet our shared needs. We Can’t Wait!
