Bay Area teachers working second jobs to make ends meet

FREMONT (KGO) -- Teachers often describe what they do as a passion instead of a career.[br /][br /]But what used to be a job for a lifetime is quickly changing in California and the Bay Area.[br /] [br /][br /][br /]The [url HREF="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/teacher-shortages-ca-solutions-brief" TARGET="" REL=""]Learning Policy Institute issued a report [/url]in September on [url HREF="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/understanding-teacher-shortages-interactive[br /]" TARGET="" REL=""]teacher shortages[/url], and found about 8.5% of teachers appear to be leaving the profession or the state each year. Another 8% leave their current school to move to another, the report says.[br /][br /][b]RELATED: [url HREF="https://abc7news.com/education/teacher-crisis-keeping-educators-in-the-bay-area/5057916/" TARGET="" REL=""]Building a Better Bay Area: Keeping teachers in the Bay Area[/url][/b][br /][br /]Liz Chivers has been a 3rd grade teacher at Grimmer Elementary in the Fremont Unified School District for the past eight years. She grew up in Fremont and went to Fremont schools.[br /][br /]"I was inspired to be a teacher by the teachers of Fremont. They gave me my love for learning and my passion for all of this," said Chivers.[br /][br /]She started off her career 12 years ago during the Great Recession.[br /][br /][b]RELATED: [url HREF="https://abc7news.com/education/teachers-seeking-solutions-to-san-franciscos-affordable-housing-crisis/5084915/" TARGET="" REL=""]Teachers seeking solutions to San Francisco's affordable housing crisis[/url][/b][br /][br /]For her first five years, she was laid off at the end of the school year and rehired at the end of the summer.[br /][br /]"It was a tricky way to start and I felt I never had that financial stability to be, you know, a middle class homeowner in the city of Fremont," said Chivers.[br /][br /]On days when she's not teaching, you most likely will find her at her second job doing office work at Ellison's Towing in Mountain View.[br /][br /]"I have been working there six years now and really the ends don't meet with my teaching job," said Chivers.[br /][br /][b]RELATED: [url HREF="https://abc7news.com/education/la-teachers-push-for-reinvestment-on-1st-day-of-strike/5077530/" TARGET="" REL=""]LAUSD teachers push for reinvestment on day 1 of 1st strike in 30 years[/url][/b][br /][br /]Liz estimates she works 12 to 15 hours a week at Ellison's during the school year and 30 to 40 hours a week during school breaks.[br /][br /]Why does a full time teacher with 12 years of experience need to work an extra job?[br /][br /]Teachers in Fremont Unified receive some of the highest salaries in the East Bay.[br /][br /]Starting teachers can make anywhere from $66,398 to $72,549 a year depending on their education. The twist is teachers in Fremont do not get healthcare coverage.[br /][br /]In the 1990s the union and the district negotiated an increase in salary in exchange for healthcare.[br /][br /][b]RELATED: [url HREF="https://abc7news.com/education/bay-area-schools-struggle-to-keep-teachers-in-competitive-market/5057528/" TARGET="" REL=""]Bay Area, California schools struggle to keep teachers in competitive market[/url][/b][br /][br /]Victoria Birbeck-Herrera is the President of the Fremont Unified District Teachers Association. She said, "However nobody could've anticipated that decades later we would have healthcare that would increase 50, 60, 70% over that amount of time. So the dollar for dollar is of course really devastating to our educators."[br /][br /]The cost of housing is also skyrocketing, with an average 2-bedroom apartment renting in Fremont for $2,504 a month according to Rent Café. Add in student loans and you can understand why a teacher is putting in more hours at a second job.[br /][br /]"I'm not going on any fancy vacations or anything with the money. I tried to put away what I can in savings because home ownership is a goal that I have, but you know I realize that I'm one medical emergency away from being in really big financial trouble so I try to have a rainy day fund," said Chivers.