My question two weeks ago to teachers on how to fix apathy in our schools triggered a number of varied and passionate responses, but the teachers who called or wrote have three things in common --they're tired, they're frustrated and they absolutely love teaching our kids.

A total of 45 local educators participated in the survey and each had much to say on the subject of student and teacher apathy. Their passion was so great; in fact, I came to regret not setting a word limit of, say 1,000 words. Lesson learned.

But I digress. I will not keep you in suspense. According to the teachers who participated in my admittedly non-scientific survey, there is no No. 1 reason for apathy in our public schools. There are two.

Those reasons are "tests" and "parents."

It's hard to say which of the two teachers are more frustrated with -- standardized tests that "have created a generation of students who know how to take tests, but who hate school and see no value in learning," or parents who stubbornly refuse to communicate the importance of education to their children.

A few teachers noted other possible causes. Some pointed the finger at their colleagues, suggesting teachers who adopt inflexible, one-size-fits-all teaching methods are sure breeders of student apathy. Other teachers said unrealistic expectations of the No Child Left Behind reform -- that every child in America will reach academic success if teachers would try just a little harder -- discourages teachers and lays the blame for student failure squarely at their feet.

But it's those standardized state tests -- elementary students take as many as three a year and high schoolers take four or five -- that really get teachers' backs up. They say the NCLB goal, to have 100 percent of all U.S. students proficient or better in math by 2014, is commendable, but impossible.

"Nowhere does NCLB say it's possible that some children just aren't capable of being 100 percent proficient," said Karen Sweaney, a 13-year teacher at Laurelglen Elementary School. "NCLB doesn't exclude the English-as-a-second-language learner, the special education child -- it's just supposed to happen and if it doesn't, it's our fault."

Teachers say the pressure of "teaching to the test," is so great that fun activities designed to ignite imaginations and instill a joy of learning, like art, daily physical education or even recess, are falling by the wayside.

Running neck and neck with standardized tests on teacher's frustration meter are parents who fail to set boundaries, check homework or show even a passing interest in their child's education.

Donna Sokanoff, a fifth-grade teacher at Golden Hills Elementary School in Tehachapi, said the lack of parent-child interaction among some of her students has proven to be her biggest obstacle in 25 years of teaching.

"If there are healthy, interactive parents at home, it shows in their child's effort, interest and conduct at school," she said. "If not, it is up to me to make school interesting and fun to these apathetic students. I must become something larger than the video games they play, the movies they see or the television they watch."

Despite that, Sokanoff said, she loves teaching and considers her job "the best in the world."

"I would not change the life I have led as a teacher," she said. "As I tell my students on a regular basis, 'I get to go to school every day and learn from what I do. I learn from my students.'"

Coming Tuesday: Teachers share practical suggestions on how to solve the apathy problem.