In light of the growing number of shortage in the teaching profession across the country, several cities and school districts have turned to opening up housing opportunities to prevent the extinction of teachers that have struggled to keep up their living to stay within their school areas.

The Associated Press extensively reports what has been going on for years in the education field, especially for teachers struggling to meet the demands of their profession to be in school for many hours and go home to their apartments that their salaries cannot afford to keep.

The publication reports that a breakthrough recently came up as San Francisco voters approved back in November to have about $35 million reserved for the construction of up to 100 new apartments by the San Francisco Unified School District.

This is one of the solutions that San Francisco has analyzed to have a huge effect in the number of teachers that can stay in school districts as they will be able to afford to stay nearby, and, therefore, have more productivity in their work.

"If I lived in a better area, I wouldn't feel so scared going home and I would be able to stay at school a little longer," first-grade teacher Esmeralda Jiménez said as quoted by the Associated Press. "You have so many things to do to prep for the next day, but it's gotten to the point where even if I leave at a decent time I will walk three blocks out of my way to avoid some streets."

To address the problem, Deputy Superintendent Nyong Leigh revealed just how housing for teachers will work in San Francisco. Apparently, the units will be rented at below-market rates for the 3,500 teachers and 1,600 classroom aides.

Furthermore, they will also be eligible for new rental housing allowances and home down payment loans to further reduce their living costs. "Each one of these ideas would reach some modest number, but in aggregate it would hopefully make a difference," Leigh said.

The November ballot has now received a great amount of support as the news agency revealed that the Roaring Fork School District in Western Colorado has leveraged a $122 million school construction bond to secure $15 million for subsidized teacher rentals.

This is seen to be of big help for teachers, who merely makes $47,000 but the average home sells for $630,000. "Without a doubt the number one reason we lose teachers and it's the number one reason people turn down jobs," Assistant Superintendent Shannon Pelland said as quoted by the news outlet.