For me, the real issue you are pointing to is this: we have to break our obsession as a culture with the belief that hard work equals lots of hours and that hours worked equal value contributed.

With all due respect Bob that's like saying just because someone shows up to an office from 7am to 7pm and never takes vacation that means they are working hard.  Some employees, regardless of their profession do the minimum necessary.  I've seen highly paid people sit at their desks pretending to work into the evening and leave as soon as the boss walked out the door to be perceived as working hard.  I worked for someone who worked weekends and never took more than a day or two off - we later found out he was defrauding the company.  I also know people who make huge incomes and choose to take 3 months of the year off.

And while I am not a teacher, I do know lots of them.  Not one of them "works" only 8-3 - The teachers I have coached and the teachers who have taught my daughter are professionals who work very hard to make a difference for our kids and never stop learning and growing on or off the clock.

Our systems - not our education system, our government, nor the corporations that drive our economy - will never transform until we start addressing the beliefs that keep them stuck.  I think this is one of those beliefs.