CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Charlotte city leaders are working to provide its teachers with access to affordable housing.
At Monday night's Housing, Safety and Community Committee meeting, city leaders presented the "teachers' village," a proposal that comes as CMS struggles to retain teachers and teachers push for higher wages to afford to live.
According to Indeed, the average teacher salary at CMS is less than $47,000 a year. Compare that to the median Charlotte home price of $432,000 and the average 2-bedroom rent at $1,731.
The committee decided to allocate $1 million towards the teacher housing concept, but still needs to work with CMS before taking further action.
Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera told city council that it would be built on CMS land.
The school district still needs to review the proposal and questions still need to be answered about construction costs and if CMS would continue to be exempt from taxes.
Mayor Vi Lyles said the city already has a $100 million housing allocation in the proposed budget and it’s important for the committee to lay out what the money is specifically being used for.
"I believe that we need to begin to have something as a recommendation from this committee to say this is where we would allocate the $100 million, so that we can be prepared to tell people what they’re voting on besides $100 million," Lyles said. "So I would like to take that back to the housing committee chairs and members to say, 'What are the categories that we’re going to spend?'"
The next Housing, Safety, and Community Committee meeting is in September.
City council is set to vote on the 2025 budget on Monday, June 10.
Contact Destiny Richards at drichards5@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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