Class A vs. Class B

It's interesting to volunteer in each of my boys' classrooms. Watching the teachers at work, experiencing what my kids experience and thinking back on my own childhood.
And I get the chance to COMPARE.
That thing we're not supposed to do... in many cases. It's hard not to, especially in this situation.
And the fact that one of them comes up lacking is unsettling to me.
I do believe that public education is in a crappy state. Even good teachers have to struggle within the limits they are given, follow the curriculum, get the students to test well, and deal with huge classroom numbers.
I also can see very different styles functioning within that system.
- both classrooms have moved the desks into clusters - teams of 4 or so each. One class has hanging signs over each group; Team #1, Team #2, Etc.. The other class also has hanging signs over each cluster: Team Dragon, Team Tornado, Team Cupcake.... and each sign has a description of each of the team members'  strengths written on it in the kids' handwriting.
-both classrooms have to do the same math. One of them does the workbook pages, the other one does the problems on the legs of a spider drawing, or a beetle drawing.
-one classroom has pet toads, the teacher has started reading a chapter book about a kid who loves chocolate, and they got out of work early for PE today.
-the other doesn't, hasn't, didn't.
No surprise that one kid seems to be a little happier in school than the other one.
I feel like one teacher needs saving from the system so she can flourish as a teacher, but then the system would be that much poorer.
I feel like the kids need saving from the other teacher.
IS this part of the problem? Teachers that stay are often ones that are just going through their paces?
Why do people who don't LOVE kids become teachers? How do we, as society, inspire our teachers to inspire? Is there any reward for the creative souls teaching out there to help them stay?
Of course none of this is measurable, and therefore can't be rated by great schools dot net.
And how can the government give a school money because their teachers think learning should be fun?