Teachers try to do the job well, the problems in our system is the need for these tests that they teach how to take the test. In the end a teacher doing a good job comes to a simple item we have taken from them.
Give them a necessary core to teach. Do not however give them the method in which they have to teach it. Let the teacher innovate based on the students. Let the teacher think outside the box. That use to exist. When I was in school teachers would target a student who was behind. Try to find a way to get the lesson and learning to them. Not all learn the same way.
I was one of them. I could not learn from a text book, but when at a very young age a teacher noticed something, my world after that changed. The teacher noticed I learn by doing. Not by reading or lectures. It is why the field I am good in is mechanical and debugging problems. I learn from solving problems. Logic puzzles are my by far favorite lazy time item.
That teacher found ways for me to excel in science and technology. English however teachers found ways, but my written is horrible. But they did get my spoken much better.
Teachers now have to follow the preset method and teach the test. That is the change we need. Common core as the base, let them teach how they see it works.