For Ontiveros, this is where the Teachers Rooted in Oakland program stepped in.  TRiO is a privately funded partnership between the City of Oakland and the Oakland Unified School District designed to recruit and retain teachers of color.  Students of color tend to perform better under teachers of color, and the main difficulty these teachers have faced — in contrast to their white peers — is the unaffordability of housing in Oakland.  TRiO accomplishes the OUSD’s recruitment and retention goal by minimizing the housing costs for student teachers of color.  

Teacher Pay vs. Living Costs

The importance of such a program can’t be overstated.  Education is critical to a wide range of goods, from health and longevity to higher income, economic mobility, and lasting marriages.  Yet our public schools — once emblematic of our democracy’s pursuit of equality — have faced persistent underfunding in most districts.  This has made finding and retaining good teachers a serious challenge, and good teachers are critical to a good education.  By most measures, they are the most important factor in a good education.

The backstory is a familiar one.  Across the nation, the pay for teaching in our public schools has generally declined in comparison to costs of living over the last few decades.  For instance, new teachers in Oakland currently earn less than $52,000 per year, while the average rent for a one bedroom apartment in Oakland has risen to more than $2,500 per month, according to conservative estimates.  Even if these teachers were to pay only $2,500 per month on rent, this would still leave only $421.92 per week to spend on everything else, including utilities, groceries, transportation, and medical bills.  This does not just make it practically impossible to save money.  It makes it difficult to survive.

By contrast, the pay in other professions —  that require similar levels of education and similar amounts of work — is now substantially higher than it is in teaching.  These other professions may not always be as intrinsically rewarding.  But they relieve the excessive amount of stress that comes with financial insecurity, and that can make up for the loss of profound intrinsic value that teaching offers.

The best way to help teachers deal with increased costs of living is to safeguard better funding for our schools.  Our schools can then provide teachers with the higher pay they need to keep up with these rising costs.  Although this is the best way to help, it is not the only possible way.  With the right leadership, we can just reduce the costs of living, as the TRiO program has demonstrated.

How TRiO Helps

In partnership with the City of Oakland, private donors and housing providers such as Riaz Capital, the OUSD has minimized the single biggest cost of living for student teachers, namely housing.  In so doing, the OUSD has presented new teachers with a simple but powerful incentive to pursue their credentials and launch their careers as OUSD educators.  Once these student teachers have earned their credentials, they will receive $450 per month on top of their salary in order to help offset living costs, given that they commit to teach in Oakland schools for at least four years.  TRiO is not a perfect substitute for better pay, but it makes a significant difference in the lives of these teachers and, by extension, the lives of their students.  

In 2020, there were 1,147 individuals who applied to teach in the OUSD.  But only 24% of them lived in Oakland, according to OUSD data.  Of the 206 new hires, only 78 lived in Oakland.  Unsurprisingly, in February of 2021, the unaffordability of housing was the main reason OUSD teachers gave when asked about the top factors that could cause them to leave their jobs.

Since TRiO’s inception, the OUSD’s retention rates are up across the board.  According to the most recent data available, 84% of teachers returned during the 2019/2020 school year, which is up from 78% five years ago.

In keeping with its philanthropic roots and its passion for creative solutions, Riaz Capital was one of the first housing providers to champion TRiO and make housing affordable to Oakland educators.  Thus far, Riaz Capital has provided housing for nine new student teachers in fully furnished Riaz Capital studio apartments at a price that is approximately 10-20% below market value.  Moreover, these student teachers only have to pay 20% of that rent.

As Mayor Schaaf’s Deputy Director of Education, Kyra Mungia put it, “TRiO would not have been possible without the help of people at companies like Riaz Capital who understand the irreplaceability of a good education and who want to take action to ensure that our schools are in the best position possible to offer one.  Riaz [Taplin, founder and CEO of Riaz Capital] knows that when our educators and students thrive, ultimately our communities thrive too.”

While TRiO’s stats and stories are encouraging, there is still much work to be done.  Likewise, Riaz Capital remains steadfast in its commitment to work alongside the OUSD to redress persistent underfunding.

Gustavo Ontiveros is now enrolled in a credential program at UC Berkeley as he completes his student teaching at Oakland Technical High School, where he teaches algebra to ninth graders.  When asked about the difference that TRiO has made, he stated that “[t]his gives teachers the opportunity to show up as their best selves in the classroom without having to commute […] It allows teachers to be more present in the classroom.”  Since good teaching is one of the most important factors in a good education, TRiO has thus proven itself to be instrumental in providing Oakland’s next generation with the education it deserves.