06:52 AM PST on Wednesday, March 31, 2004

Associated Press

If she taught math, Tammy Wright knew she'd always have a job. If she taught music, she figured she'd always be happy.

(AP File Photo)

Wright, 23, chose music and spent Tuesday standing in a line that didn't move at Oregon's largest job fair for teachers, contemplating years of cuts to art and music programs that have eroded her job prospects.

With her temporary job as an elementary music teacher ending in June, she has just a few months to find another. It won't be easy. Of the 197 districts in the West recruiting at the Oregon Professional Educator Fair, eight were looking for dance teachers, 36 wanted art teachers and 46 needed someone to teach music.

More than 2,700 teachers and administrators attended the fair, which continued Wednesday.

Hans Hickerson had much better prospects as he visited booths that wanted bilingual and English-as-a-second language teachers. Hickerson speaks Spanish, German, French and English, and the demands of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and surging immigrant populations led to a hundred districts seeking his skills at the job fair.

Since last year, the job market has improved for teachers, a reflection of more stable school budgets and mounting retirements, said Jim Buck, executive director of the Oregon School Personnel Association.

Those forces haven't helped Wright's chances. She has spent the past seven months filling in for a teacher on sabbatical, teaching music to 700 elementary students spread across three schools in the Scappoose School District. Many of the Oregon districts that have preserved music programs save money by dividing teachers' time among schools.

"I was shocked to find a job last year," Wright said.

Wright stood at the end of one of several lines for the Beaverton School District on Tuesday, waiting for a moment with a recruiter. When the line didn't budge, she moved on. Later in the day, however, she returned and spent 30 minutes waiting to talk to a Beaverton recruiter.

Hickerson had more luck. A recruiter from the Reynolds School District recommended he contact a middle school in the district that could have an opening.

"When they know you speak Spanish, they're all very interested," Hickerson said.

Pamela LaFreniere, coordinator of teacher licensing for Oregon's Teacher Standard and Practices Commission, said the teachers dropping by her booth seem to be following Hickerson's lead.

"They want to know how to get an ESL or a math endorsement," LaFreniere says. No Child Left Behind is "changing the landscape in that the more endorsements you can get ahold of, the better."

As Hickerson stopped off at the Salem-Keizer Public Schools table, Wright waited to meet Vancouver, Wash., School District recruiters.

Wright told the recruiter she was looking for a general music position.

"We're looking for outstanding, passionate educators," the recruiter said, taking her resume.

"If you could pick three words to describe yourself, what would they be?" the recruiter asked.

Wright replied, "committed, joyful . . . educator."

The recruiter thanked her and said they'll call if her resume catches someone's eye.

"It seemed like the smaller districts were more interested in me," Wright said later. "I have goals. But right now, I'd just like a job."