At a Dec. 16 city council meeting, council members approved revisions to the Teacher Homebuyer Program that will reduce the loan amount from $40,000 to $25,000 to teachers within 90 to 120 percent of the area's median income. For a single-family household, this is between $66,465 and $88,620, using Santa Clara County's median income of $73,850. Single-family household teachers earning less than $66,465 are eligible to receive the full $40,000 down payment.

The revision could increase the number of teacher loans made by 20 percent, says San Jose Housing Department Homebuyer Program Manager Tom Cook.

The program was initially launched four years ago to provide up to $40,000 in zero-interest home loans to public school teachers who needed assistance with a down payment. Since then, nearly 400 teachers have been helped by the program, which receives the majority of its funding from local redevelopment money.

Another change to the loan program is the new restriction on the home purchase price. Cook says that under the new revisions, the maximum purchase price at which a teacher can buy a home will be 95 percent of the city's median purchase price, which equals $475,000. The county's median purchase price is $545,000.

Cook says the program has been quite successful so far in implementing its two objectives: To attract teachers to a high-cost area and to help already employed teachers in the San Jose Unified School District remain in their communities.

"When teachers live in the same community with their schools, they can do a better job to help our children learn," said San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales in a statement. "It also strengthens the ability of our school districts to recruit and keep good teachers."

For more information about the Teacher Homebuyer Program or to obtain a loan application, call the San Jose Housing Department at 408.277.8486 or visit http://www.sj housing.org/program/thp.html.