Published: October 6, 2009

New Teachers in Ore. Struggle to Find Jobs

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Most of the estimated 2,400 newly minted teachers who graduated from Oregon colleges of education this year were unable to get hired anywhere in Oregon, proving that a job often billed as recession-proof is not.

Education deans and others who monitor the job market say this was the state's worst hiring season for new teachers in at least a generation.

With schools offering jobs to only about one-third as many teachers as normal, there was fierce competition for nearly every opening, and brand-new teachers brimming with idealism but lacking professional experience...