$300,000 program seeks to help SF teachers live in the city

San Francisco teachers will gain special access to housing and antieviction services under a $300,000-a-year city and school district effort to help educators live in one of the most expensive markets in the country, officials said Tuesday.

The program will offer teachers legal guidance and representation if they face eviction, a service otherwise available only to low-income residents.

The money allocated by the district and city will also pay for one-on-one counseling sessions and workshops specifically for teachers, to be held monthly at various locations across the city to help them find housing and down-payment assistance.

The program gives teachers — as well as aides, nurses, counselors and other educators — support through Homeownership SF, a partnership of nonprofit groups that addresses housing issues for residents.

[...] there will be no line.

“We have a perfect storm of woefully inadequate (state) funding, a teacher shortage and high housing prices,” Leigh said.

An average one-bedroom apartment now costs $3,400 a month in San Francisco, which is more than 60 percent of the average teacher’s monthly salary, district officials said.