"Basically this whole thread ... think about it ... you're getting paid far less for your degree than you could get outside of education, doing a very thankless job in many respects dealing with difficult child management issues, and then on top of it are constantly criticized as being the problem with America (teachers and the education system are usually the scapegoat for everything). "

You are choosing to get paid less. Go to Wyoming, Illinois, or one of the many other states where they pay more. There are options out there. And the main point Blackbart and I were principally making was that teachers hours aren't that high and actually a lot lower than many professions.

People choose careers making various tradeoffs from money, to stress, to pleasure time. Teaching is no different.