Where Did the Students Go? Housing & the School Enrollment Crisis

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Silicon Valley is becoming too expensive for families and our schools are paying the price. Enrollment is dropping, campuses are closing, and beloved school communities are being torn apart.

At the same time, teachers and staff face grueling commutes from far-away cities, while districts struggle to hire and keep the talent our kids deserve.

Join us for an inside look at SV@Home’s exclusive research on Silicon Valley’s enrollment crisis—and discover how affordable housing can keep families in our neighborhoods and strengthen schools across our region.

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July 30, 2025

Take Action: Help Advance Social Housing in California

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Image Source: California Social Housing Description: Fenton Silver Spring, one of several large social housing developments recently constructed in Maryland.

Social Housing holds promise to deliver housing affordability for lower- and moderate-income families and individuals in California… if we get it right. Make sure your voice is heard in this important study!

In 2023, the California Legislature passed SB 555, which set a ten-year goal of creating 1.2 million units of Social Housing to support lower- and moderate-income residents unable to afford market rents in California. 

Social Housing refers to homes that: 

  • are owned by a public agency, co-operative, or mission-driven nonprofit; 
  • that are permanently affordable;
  • that maintain protections for tenants and residents; and 
  • that tenants and residents have a meaningful role in managing and governing.

The Stable Affordable Housing Act of 2023 (SB 555) did not provide a specific pathway for this Social Housing to be created in California, instead only directing the Department of Housing and Community Development to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the opportunities, resources, obstacles, and recommendations for the creation of social housing. The results of this study will shape the State legislature’s debate on Social Housing moving forward and may determine how the legislature defines Social Housing, how it gets built, how it gets funded, and whether it ever gets built.

The authors of the study have included a community feedback period for all community members to give their thoughts on what role Social Housing should play in California’s future. We need to make our voices heard and let the study authors know what Social Housing could mean to our communities.

It is also important that we continue to reinforce the definition of Social Housing, as changes to the definition could redirect funding intended to meet the needs of lower-income residents to market-rate housing developments instead. Click here to access the survey, and click here for a useful survey response guide from our friends at Public Advocates and Housing Now!

Survey responses are due by August 8.

Take action