A Texas high school teacher is sleeping in his car after becoming homeless because he can no longer afford rising rents in the state capital, but he makes too much to qualify for housing assistance.
Bill Atkinson lives in his Hyundai Venue in the parking lot of the school where he teaches fourth grade in Austin, a local station reported KVUE.
Although the name of the campus where he works is unknown, he has been sleeping there for a few weeks in his old car without air conditioning and with all his belongings.
“I do park at my school,” Atkinson explained. “I park in a spot where there aren’t a lot of parents parking around my car, so there aren’t that many.”
The Lone Star State teacher has been living on the streets for weeks because he says his $53,000 salary is no longer enough to make ends meet.
Austin teacher Bill Atkinson is homeless and living in his car because his $53,000 salary can no longer support him
Atkinson admitted that his debts, including student loans, contributed to his inability to pay rent.
“Due to mistakes and bad luck, my debts are so high that I can no longer pay my rent or repay my debts,” he shared on a GoFundMe page he started to raise money.
‘I also do not get approval from the authorities that I can pay with my salary. I also do not get approval for additional housing, because I earn too much as a single person.’
He added that his poor credit rating makes him ineligible for certain rental properties.
But he also earns too much to qualify for social housing benefit.
The teacher slept in his Hyundai Venue in the parking lot of the school where he works
Austin’s population has exploded over the past 12 years, causing rent prices to skyrocket
Atkinson isn’t alone: Many public school teachers in Austin, a city with a booming population, are struggling to make ends meet.
“I can tell you that many of our teachers are living paycheck to paycheck,” Ovidia Molina, president of the Texas State Teachers Association, told the local television station.
In Austin, the average rent is $2,225, according to Zillowmaking it the most expensive city in the state.
Even Dallas and Houston, which are much larger cities, are cheaper. In Dallas, the average rent is $2,100 and in Houston, it’s $1,900.
House prices in the popular city have risen dramatically over the past decade as the population has exploded.
The metro area is the 26th most populous in the U.S., with the seventh largest population growth between 2022 and 2023, it reported CBS Austin.
Teachers’ salaries have also not increased.
According to the secretary of state, public teachers earn $9,000 less than the national average. National Education Association.
When inflation is taken into account, teachers earn 6% less than in 2015.
