Odessa so many jobs, so few rentals

ODESSA – Ector County Independent School District (ECISD) passed a balanced $211 million budget that added 28 new positions atop the nearly 4,000 within the district: 60 teachers, 14 administrators, four police officers, four support staff and six administrative professionals/special teaching staff.

More than 250 job openings are currently listed on ECISD’s website, 100 of which are teaching openings.

A starting teaching salary is $45,000 annually with a $2,000 incentive if the teacher remains through the school year. However, the problem persists for teachers in the Permian Basin: finding a place to live.

Monthly rent continues to rise in the Permian Basin, from $568 a month for an unfurnished one-bedroom apartment in 2011 to $779 in 2013, according to the latest Chamber of Commerce annual apartment survey.

Additionally, ECISD voters passed a $129.75 million bond that will build three new elementary schools on the west and north sides of Odessa, where most of the growth has occurred in the past five years.