Giving Compass' Take:

• EdSource reports on a California state program that makes it easier for school employees, especially teachers, to afford to buy a house.

• With so much talk about teacher salaries and strikes around the country, how can policies like this help compensate educators more fairly and bring more stability to school systems?

• Bringing more urgency: The pay gap for teachers has reached an all-time high.


The school year has gotten off to an exciting start for Kennedy High Media Arts teacher Mitzi Perez, who with her fiancé recently moved into their first home in the district where she teaches during the same week she welcomed new students into her classroom.

They bought the $510,000 house in Richmond in the East Bay with down payment money lent to them through a state program for school employees. They also got a small grant toward closing costs and counseling from local programs.

Perez is one of about 2,400 school employees statewide over the past 17 years who got down payment loans through a state program for teachers and other K-12 school employees.

In addition to the $17,850 down payment loan, Perez and her fiancé Anthony Caro obtained a 30-year CalPLUS conventional mortgage for $492,150 at about 4.6 percent interest through the same state agency. They also got a smaller Zero Interest Program loan, known as a ZIP loan, for about $20,000 that helped pay for closing costs. All told, the assistance totaled about $530,000, including the mortgage.

Read the full article about teachers getting help to buy a home by Theresa Harrington at edsource.org.