Why do teachers have to go on strike or have walkouts to get a pay raise? Why don't we respect them more?

people take teachers for granted way too often, it is a shame.

many women in my family were teachers, so i know from their experience that it is one of the most fulfilling jobs, but the least monetarily rewarding.

Because we idolize "stuff", Britney and Paris. Important news to us is which celebrity is doin' whom instead of who's dying in Iraq. We don't VALUE education, so why would we value teachers?

Let's keep giving legislators pay raises and paying huge salaries and bonuses to undeserving executives and pols while we hold our teachers responsible for babysitting our kids and giving them moral guidance as we screw them out of just compensation for the vital job they do.

I don't know why we don't value teacher's as much. They should be among highest paid professionals. So should nurses. (I'm a nursing student)