I think we should agree with the teachers on this one point. Schools seem to be so wrapped up in teaching the tests that even if they genuinely wanted to teach conventional subjects, they simply cannot do so.
Sure you can find the dedicated professionals that the supporters like to tout. Unfortunately they are few and far between.
A far larger number of the teachers I knew are students who never left school. They spend 16 years in a school system, kindergarten to college, then return to the same system. They never have had to deal with any other world. It is the Peter Pan story, they never have to grow up.
These teachers relish the school environment, the cliques, the clubs, the prom scene, and the exploration of adolescent life. I have seen many act as "match makers" pairing up their idea of the "perfect couple". They re-live their favorite time in life vicariously through their students. IMHO that is one of the factors that leads to teachers having emotional and physical relations with their students. They cannot distinguish the reality that they are now supposed to be the adults.
The personification of a bad joke are the teachers unions and unions in general. They are looking for union dues to sponsor their own political aims. What a bunch of losers.