A teacher who launched a GoFundMe to help him afford a place to live has put a spotlight on teacher salaries as the new school year begins.
Bill Atkinson, a fourth grade teacher in Austin, Texas, said he began living in his car this summer when his previous living situation fell through and he could not afford rent on his $54,000 annual salary.
“No matter how much I borrowed or scraped, there was no catching up, because I just did not make enough to cover rent – because I was so used to living paycheck to paycheck, I didn’t have anything in savings to try to cover rent for a couple months,” he told “Good Morning America.” “So I tried to get a place, [but I] was having a hard time finding a place I could afford on my own.”
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I’ve seen some places basically wanting to revamp company town aspects by having teachers living on school grounds. Which would be terrible. Teachers deserve better pay.
Housing as a job benefit is terrible because it ties you even more closely to your employer - same problem as with employer-provided health insurance. Even a housing allowance is shit because it turns money that could be spent on anything into money that can only be spent on one particular thing - same problem as gift cards.
As the owner of a skoolie (used school bus converted into a motorhome) one benefit I’d like to see would be employer-provided parking spots for motorhomes. You wouldn’t lose your house if you quit your job (just your parking spot for it) and you would actually be able to live legally in your motorhome, something that is possible almost nowhere in the US and certainly not in any urban area that people actually want to live in. Some airlines actually allow their flight attendants to park and live in motorhomes on lots at major airports (NYC is one place for this, or at least it was recently), and some rural places provide motorhome parking for traveling nurses who sign contracts to work there for 9 months or however long.
Austin is an expensive place. The town I live in has a similar problem, where in order to live here the teachers need a spouse who can afford it. Otherwise they need to live in a neighboring town. Fortunately you don’t have to go too far to find something more affordable, but ideally they’d be able to live in the community where they teach.
I always support professionals making more money. $4500/month before taxes is not a lot for a HCOL area.
That being said, if you know your salary you should be making a budget. There are people who make $25,000/yr. with financial problems, and there are people who make $300,000/yr. with financial problems.
This gentleman says he has bad credit which is a big factor into why he can’t get an apartment, so saying he can’t afford it is a bit misleading. He even said he has applied for apartments that he can afford. To me the question is how did he get into this situation? Taking on too much debt might be a cause, or just a snowball effect of too many bad financial decisions. Having to repay a grant sounds like it might have been avoidable, but I really don’t know how the grant system works.
Either way, if you’re in this situation, please make a budget before it gets to this point.
Now getting back on topic, lets pay teachers more!
I always support professionals making more money.
As a teacher, I couldn’t give a toss about whether I’m seen as a member of a profession or not. I support people who do important work in a place - cleaning, maintaining, driving public transport, delivering food and other items - to be able to live reasonably near their place of work.
Everyone should have a decent life, no matter what their job, and no matter whether they are deemed to be professional or not.
Either way, if you’re in this situation, please make a budget before it gets to this point.
It’s hard for all Americans to budget when so many are forced to live paycheck to paycheck in an economic system which profits off the exploitation caused by forced inequality. A quick check gives me results of 65-78% of Americans reporting that they live like this. And yes, you could tell me about some people you know who successfully manage to live in X city on Y income. That’s great. But that isn’t an answer, because other people are doing it.
Some people have survived being shot in the head. When I come across people who have been shot in the head, I don’t say “be more like those people who survived”. I call an ambulance.
I’m trying to understand your point about not being able to budget when living paycheck to paycheck. This is when a budget is most important.
I’m sorry that I called teachers professionals. I didn’t know it touched a nerve.
because when every bit of your monthly income is already taken up by necessities, any unexpected expense and this budget means nothing. so a surprise expense and you end up falling behind on rent, but there’s no available money next month to catch up unless you don’t eat, and unfortunately next month will have some other unexpected expense - maybe your car breaks down because it’s a piece of junk, but it was all you could afford. and so it spirals. the budget only matters if you have some discretion in how you spend.
You’re right: budgeting is good. For example, I can budget my time by not talking to people who are overwhelmingly obtuse.
A lot of people don’t realize HOW expensive the Austin area is. It is up there with New York and L.A… His salary would barely cover a mediocre apartment, vehicle and the basics. Throw in an unexpected medical bill or repair bill for the car and your screwed. You end up exactly like this guy. His salary is essentially minimum wage for the area. He is essentially forced to find a roommate or get in a relationship to make up the gap.
For those saying, just move farther away, the prices for apartments 30 minutes outside Austin are still incredibly high priced, and a lot of times the offset in rent is made up in gas and wear and tear on the vehicle.
You got the facts straight and came to the logical conclusion but is it necessary to armchair quarterback his hypothetical financial situation?
The guy in the article is very open to sharing his financial struggles and asking for help, so I’m confident that his feelings wouldn’t be hurt if he reads what I wrote.
My goal was for someone else to read my comment and have it kick them into gear to get their finances straight. Maybe someone out there is researching how to budget right now after reading it, and that’s a good thing.
So yes, it’s valuable to speculate and discuss hypothetical financial struggles so that we can learn ways to avoid getting into a similar situation.
I know the point of the article is “teachers didn’t make enough money” which is true, but the point of my comment is “people don’t become unhoused while holding a steady job unless some mistakes were made along the way”.
I’m sure that’ll happen. Keep on preaching the good word of if you’re houseless it’s your own fault. Thanks bud!
I have bad credit because I’ve never borrowed money. I have lots of savings and (had) a great income, but I always had trouble renting apartments because of my credit score. Now I have a house that I bought for cash, but the very nature of renting via credit scores draws people inexorably into the debt cycle.
eh 54k is enough to scrape ass in austin. but debts beyond cost of living could easily, easily sink you.
