HOUSTON
The number of new teachers in Texas has dropped sharply during the last four years and education observers have identified several reasons for that decline.
Texas schools hired fewer than 15,000 first-year teachers last year, down from 25,000 in 2008, the Houston Chronicle reported. According to the Texas Education Agency, the 2011-12 school year was the first in recent history in which Texas public schools lost more teachers than they gained.