News Update

Most LA teachers reported they’ve pondered quitting over housing and living costs

More than 70% of teachers in Los Angeles have seriously considered quitting because they aren’t paid enough to afford to live near where they work, the Guardian US reported Thursday.

More than 1 in 4 Los Angeles teachers reported in a survey that they are working second jobs in order to be able to afford to live in the city. The Guardian’s report is based on a survey of 13,000 teachers by United Teachers Los Angeles, a labor union.

In the first half of 2022, the Los Angeles area had the highest rental prices in the U.S., at a median price of $4,664 a month for a single-family home, according to HouseCanary. Between 2018 and 2021, the cost of basic necessities in LA increased by more than 20%, the Guardian reported.

“The wages are just not livable,” Cecily Myart-Cruz, the president of United Teachers Los Angeles, told the Guardian. “We’re at a critical crisis right now where you have educators bearing the brunt in this profession of not being treated as professionals.”