JoAnn Phan prepares for class at DeChaumes Elementary on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013, in Houston. Phan spent a year and a half searching for her first teaching job after graduating from The University of Houston. She's not alone, there were 10,000 fewer first-year teachers in Texas in 2012 than in 2008. ( Mayra Beltran / Houston Chronicle )? Photo: Mayra Beltran, Staff / © 2013 Houston Chronicle