Should South Dakota Teachers Get a Housing Allowance?

Increasing teacher pay will no doubt be a hot topic of conversation during the upcoming 2016 South Dakota legislative session. The difficult part is where to start?

Just a thought here, but perhaps a good starting point would be to do what some other cities states are now doing - offering subsidized housing to its teachers.

In San Francisco, for example, the school district there is now offering its teachers rent-subsidized apartments.

In some parts of the city, a studio apartment can run as much as $1,700 a month, which can amount to nearly 43% of a first year teacher's salary.

Inspired by the success of similar projects, cities in both high cost-of-living areas as well as rural areas are now buying or building rent-subsidized apartments for teachers.

You may remember, it was just last year that teachers in the Seattle area went on strike for a week saying they couldn't afford to live in the city where they work.

The idea of subsidized housing for teachers does make one think. Perhaps this is an option South Dakota should consider?