Housing project targets teachers

NEW YORK - Tired of seeing public school teachers flee because they can't afford to rent an apartment, the teachers union has taken a plunge into New York City's red-hot real estate market.

The New York City Teachers' Retirement System is investing $28 million in pension funds to buy bonds that are financing housing for educators. Experts say the job-specific housing project could become a model in other cities where soaring rents are forcing out essential workers like teachers, police and firefighters.

“For too many years now, New York City has lost many of its talented new educators; nearly half of them leave within five years on the job,” says Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers, the union representing more than 150,000 active and retired New York public school educators.