inequality viz who decides who gets paid what, what any job is worth, as far as paying the workers, etc.
teachers have been slagged off for so long, and blamed for all sorts of shite, that any respect they used to have is long gone. and, on appearance, a lot of them don't do themselvs any favours, being tetchy, unhelpful, etc., etc - look at the experiences of parents on here. of course, i see it from the other side - no respect; plenty of blame; governments intitiatives which are not only fucking stupid, but are add-ons, rather than replacements (i.e. they just increase workload, and not with any discernable benefit to the actual children); majorly low morale; etc., etc.
and there's little competition here, mcj - teachers are imported from wherever they can get them, cos there is in fact a shortage. personally, i'm not surprised. to be honest, i'm only a teacher still because it's the most i can earn at a job i can do without re-training, and i do feel as though i'm doing something useful in my job, a lot of the time. lucky i have a professional head to put on, so i do the fucking job properly when i get there, ain't it, so the kids don't get a shit deal. i actually burned out years ago.