Well written and spot on article. My heart goes out to teachers. It is not the teacher that's broken, it's the educational and cultural systems that are falling apart. Everything you wrote resonates with me. I have two master's degrees - one in child health and one in environmental ed - yet, subbing in a classroom was exhausting for me. When I volunteered for our school district for 20 years - forming parent advocacy groups for TAG students, writer's circles, and book clubs, and an afterschool garden club that ran for 13 years - it got to the point that even those efforts (aimed at taking some of the load off of classroom teachers) was not validated and became to be expected, no matter how badly I was treated (all were voluteer positions). It seems the system (and those who run the systems) do not know how to value those to put their heart and soul into their students, classrooms, and profession. And, you're right - sometimes, it IS about the money because that's how society (in the US) shows how much something or someone is valued - by the amount of money they're given. I fear for the future of our educators and our students. Thank you for writing an eloquent and inclusive article that focuses on some of the real issues.