I think that teachers should be forced to take a break every five years and do something else. A sabbatical if you will. Not just hang out and do nothing but do something entirely different. Go work in a restaurant or maybe travel. Just something that takes them away and teaches them something new. It might broaden their experience and maybe foster a sense of empathy.

I do have a lot of sympathy for many teachers because they are often held to various requirements and many don't want to do it. My Mom sorta sees this one teacher (that is a complicated situation) and he talks about how much shit he has to put up with from the school board, a community, state requirements and then the general politics from various teachers. He is a real bad-ass and works really hard to keep a lot of that away from the classroom. But at the same time it leaves him really exhausted.