I strongly agree with you, Patrick. It's a shame too these days, that teachers only care about their salaries. Another thing that makes me upset is that the classes often teach students "to the test". The purpose for us to attend school is to learn. Should what we learn during 4 years in high school be wasted on a 4 hour SAT or ACT exam? We should be learning for the sake of knowledge, not test-taking.
It's also why people are failing state tests, because they expect everyone to know whats on it WHEN THEY NEVER LEARNED IT 
One of my last public school classes was my 8th grade science course, a class I will forever call a trainwreck.
-Teacher was the epitome of stress. I saw her recently at a Kohl's department store with a coffee cup in one hand, cell phone in another, and "I <3 SD" sweatshirt. Catchphrase? "Oh my lanta".
-An aide had to be added midyear. There were many struggling/troublemaking students, including one who's always had an unjustified grudge on me. There were almost always people sent to detention.
-We were behind enough that an entire unit on ecology and Darwinian principles had not been covered by the time we took the AIMS science exam (which included questions on them).
-I felt like I was in an insane asylum half the time.
-It was a RELIEF to leave that class. No, really. It actually made me feel bad emotionally.
That class, among other things, was the reason I decided to make the move to Catholic school.
