Educator Workforce Housing

A teacher shortage is often a housing program waiting to be built.

The constraint is housing. The solution is a well-managed program. Brookwood Group has built those programs.

Brookwood Group Prepared for School District Leadership
Work Scope  ·  The Problem

The vacancy numbers are a symptom.

In high-cost markets, teacher recruitment has become a housing problem. Districts extend offers. Qualified candidates decline because the numbers do not work. The ones who accept often leave within two years.

Salary increases cannot close a gap that is widening annually. The chart below shows how rising housing costs, declining applicant pools, and growing vacancy rates have converged into a structural crisis across California.

California · 2024
8.2%
Teacher vacancy rate, up from 1.2% in 2004.
Applicants per posting
2.1
Down from 12.4 in 2004. Below 3 statewide since 2022.
Housing burden · coastal counties
51%
Of gross salary consumed by median 2-bedroom rent.
Federal affordability threshold
30%
The point above which housing is classified as a burden. Most California coastal districts are at nearly double this.

When the reason a qualified candidate declines a teaching offer is a housing search that does not work out, the district has a program management problem, not a recruiting one.

Interactive

Twenty years of convergence

Three metrics tracked across California, 2004 to 2024. Drag the slider to move through time.

2024
Vacancy rate
Applicants / posting
Housing burden
Vacancy rate (%)
Applicants per posting
Housing burden (% of salary)
200420082012201620202024
Vacancy rate: California Department of Education. Applicants per posting: Learning Policy Institute and CDE credential data. Housing burden: HUD Fair Market Rent indexed against NEA average California teacher salary. Statewide averages; 2022-2024 includes preliminary estimates.
The Path Forward

Districts that have solved this did not approach it as a construction project.

The path requires navigating four workstreams simultaneously: real property acquisition, public finance and bond compliance, affordable housing entitlements, and construction delivery. None of that is a school district's core competency.

The districts that succeed secure an owner's representative working exclusively for them: not a developer pursuing a fee, not a contractor pricing scope.

Case Study · Jefferson Union High School District · Completed 2021

The first bond-funded educator housing program in the United States.

122 units in Daly City, California. $75 million. Financed through general obligation bonds and low-income housing tax credits. Brookwood Group served as owner's representative throughout.

Cal Poly · Poly Canyon Village
$299M
2,676-bed student housing program, design-build. Zero contractor-initiated claims, zero litigation, delivered four months ahead of schedule.
Jefferson Union HSD
$75M
122 units. First bond-funded educator housing in the US. On budget, fully occupied within 60 days of opening.
First-year occupancy
62%
Of first-cohort residents had previously declined JUSD teaching offers because of housing costs.

Sixty-two percent of the first residents were teachers who had previously declined positions at Jefferson Union High School District because they could not afford to live nearby.

Select a program phase
01
Mandate
2018
02
Feasibility & Site
2018-19
03
Finance Structure
2019
04
Entitlements
2019-20
05
Construction
2020-21
06
Occupancy
2021
Our Role

Brookwood represents the district. No one else.

Brookwood Group was founded on a single principle: represent building owners exclusively, without performing design or construction work. Every recommendation is oriented toward the district's outcome, not toward fees earned downstream.

The principals who submit this document are the principals who attend board presentations and hold the contractor accountable during construction. Dedicated senior principal participation throughout is how we work.

Independence · 01
Financing structure
Bond proceeds, LIHTC allocations, and developer equity each carry different implications for district ownership. Brookwood evaluates these on the district's behalf, with no financial interest in the outcome.
Independence · 02
Design and scope
Scope decisions in design have cost consequences that realize during construction. Brookwood identifies those before they become change orders.
Independence · 03
Construction accountability
When schedule pressure mounts, contractors optimize their position. Brookwood's role is to assure the district's interests are represented in every field decision that carries downstream consequence.
What to Expect

From first conversation to occupancy.

1
Program Assessment
Honest evaluation of what the district owns, what it can finance, and what the political environment will allow, before recommending any path.
2
Feasibility and Program Structure
Site evaluation, financing scenarios, and a recommended structure with the reasoning behind it. Not a menu of options.
3
Developer and Design Procurement
Competitive selection through public procurement processes the district's legal counsel can defend.
4
Entitlements and Finance Close
Community approvals and financing close run simultaneously. Managing their intersection is where Brookwood's experience is most directly valuable to a first-time district client.
5
Construction Delivery
Brookwood's role does not diminish when construction begins. That is when it is most consequential.
6
Occupancy and Transition
Property management selection, lease-up, and operational handoff. The program is not complete when the building opens.
Next Step

A short conversation about what your district is building next.

No pitch deck, no proposal. One meeting with our principals to assess what the district has, what it can finance, and what a realistic path looks like.

Brookwood Group, prime · Owner's representative for educator workforce housing programs · brookwoodgroup.com

Brookwood Group Educator Workforce Housing · Statement of Qualifications · 2025