On one side of the equation, there's a looming national teacher shortage that is most acute in under- performing, inner-city public schools. Attracting and keeping good teachers in these schools is one of a series of measures needed to lift their performance and salvage opportunity for kids who need it most. But good teachers are at a premium, and suburban systems often offer better pay and working conditions.

On the other side of the equation, the federal government, through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Administration, has a large stock of thousands of homes through foreclosures on federally guaranteed loans, often in the same inner-city areas where incentives are needed for good teachers.

In an initiative announced by President Clinton and HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo last week, the equation has been brought together: HUD will make this surplus housing available to teachers at 50% discounts with very low down payments. To qualify, teachers must be working in the same school districts as the homes and agree to keep them as principal residences for at least three years.

This "Teacher Next Door" initiative is modeled on HUD's 1997 "Officer Next Door" program, which has enabled 3,300 police officers to buy houses in the jurisdictions they serve. These home loans are federally guaranteed, with the subsidy coming from FHA's mortgage insurance premium fund, which is flush to the tune of $13.3 billion, so there's no cost or risk for the taxpaying public.

Luring qualified teachers into public schools in low-to-moderate neighborhoods is not all we need to do to turn around under-performing schools, but every little bit helps. State and local governments should emulate HUD's imaginative approach and identify ways to meet the demand for good working and living conditions for teachers with their own supply of publicly owned goods and services.

Blueprint Keywords: Extra Teacher Homes