PORTLAND 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 states 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 often got shut out.

A survey by The Oregonian suggests fewer than 600 new teacher graduates got hired in Oregon this fall.

Others found teaching posts elsewhere Arizona, Alaska, even overseas often with a hope of returning to Oregon in a few years once hiring resumes here.

But many out-of-work graduates are trying to keep their dreams of teaching alive, and crossing their fingers they can pay the bills, by staying in Oregon and substitute teaching.

Subbing has rarely been seen as a plum assignment, with its last-minute notice and the tendency of students to act up when their teacher is away.

Allison Dworschak decided midway through college that she wanted nothing more than to teach. With a journalism degree from the University of Oregon, she pursued a masters degree in teaching from the University of Portland. She dreamed of becoming a high school newspaper adviser, teaching history, journalism and digital media.

Reality hit a month before she graduated. At the states biggest educator job fair, she realized she was unlikely to get a job offer.

It was really disheartening, Dworschak said. We found out if you went to Alaska, you could pretty much get a job, but you would have to be willing to live on the Bering Strait. Thirty days of darkness is not really something I was looking forward to.

So, shes subbing. It means no health insurance, worries about paying the rent and finding out when and where shell work only hours in advance.

But shes enjoying it. Recently, she taught Romeo and Juliet, helped students with learning disabilities keep up in class, took the helm of a learning strategies class and taught students with profound disabilities to tell time and count money.

I could be making a lot more money working at a restaurant, but I really put a lot of effort into this degree a lot and I want to use it, even if I have to eat a lot of Top Ramen.

In certain specialties, new teachers found it easy to get hired despite the glut. Special education, always one of the high-demand fields, was in demand because federal stimulus money enabled most districts to add positions in special education. Some jobs for speech pathologists are still vacant.