Krista Sorrels didn’t expect to have a hard time finding a teaching job.

The 22-year-old started searching three months before her May graduation from Texas Christian University. She personally went to schools to drop off résumés. She even had the much-needed special-education certification.

"I applied to schools at 17 districts and got one interview," she said. "I was surprised. And it’s not just the D-FW area. I applied in Tulsa and the D.C. area, and I got word from them all that they were hiring a lot less teachers this year."

The one interview worked out; she was hired to teach at J.T. Stevens Elementary School in Fort Worth.

"But several of my friends are still looking," she said.

Welcome to the recession.

This summer may be one of the toughest in recent years for new teachers to get a job because districts simply aren’t hiring as many teachers as they have in the past.

Arlington school officials, for example, expect to hire 200 teachers, about half of what they usually do, while Fort Worth officials expect to hire about a third of the 900 teachers they typically hire each summer.

"This is the smallest amount of teachers I’ve ever hired," said Terry Buckner, who has worked on Fort Worth’s recruitment efforts for 13 years.

When the economy struggles, fewer teachers retire or take time off for a new baby, school officials said. Some are less likely to leave their current jobs if another family member is struggling financially.

Fewer jobs are available outside the education field, so companies aren’t luring teachers away from the classroom.

"Teachers have told us their husbands are laid off, so they won’t be leaving as planned," Buckner said. "But sometimes it’s their adult children that are laid off, and they have to stay to support them."

Cash-strapped school districts are having to make cuts, so they’re hiring fewer teachers.

In Arlington, officials will change the teacher-student ratio at secondary schools from 1-to-15 to 1-to-18. That will not necessarily affect classroom sizes but the number of teachers per middle school or high school campus, said Marilyn Evans, the district’s assistant superintendent of personnel.

The move is expected to save $6.7 million and is the main reason the district will hire about 200 teachers instead of the 400 normally hired.

Keller, too, will add fewer teachers as officials expect to hire 150 to 175, instead of the 300 to 350 that normally join the school district. In a move that could save the district $1 million in annual operating costs, intermediate, middle and high schools will have larger class sizes, jumping from one teacher per 25 students to one teacher per 26 students. The district will also offer fewer electives in its high schools.

Teachers and other staff at the new Timber Creek High School opening in August are being assigned from other campuses, said Penny Benz, assistant superintendent of human resources.

Texas Christian University usually has all 130-140 education graduates hired by mid-July, said Mary Martin Patton, dean of the College of Education. So far, about a third are still looking for jobs. Patton said she hasn’t seen such a slowdown in teaching jobs in her 30 years in education.

But Patton said those considering education as a second career shouldn’t be discouraged by this year’s job market.

She pointed to studies like the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future report in April that found about half of the nation’s teachers will be eligible to retire within 10 years.

"We know we have a teacher shortage in the making because so many boomers are close to retiring," Patton said.

"It’s been delayed a year because of the economy, but it’s coming. This year is a blip, not a pattern."

Meanwhile, beginner and veteran teachers are looking for classrooms of their own. At the Northwest district, applications for professional jobs are up 60 percent from January to early July. The district received 3,123 applications from January to July, and 1,948 applications during the same period in 2008.

The teachers that districts most need still are those that are certified for math, science, bilingual or special education.

"When they come in, we grab ’em," Evans said.

Staff writer Jessamy Brown contributed to this report.