How does morale play into the development of expertise?

This is the question I find myself contemplating after reading this very distressing article on the Washington Post website. Take some time to read the article. I won't say it's uplifting, but even in the midst of the turbulent changes occurring in our schools, we can still see the dedication that these teachers have to their jobs and the children they teach. At the same time, we can also see how their morale is being sapped by increasingly larger numbers of students to teach in each class, micromanagement, lay-offs and budget cuts, etc. I don't imagine that many teachers teaching in these conditions feel motivated enough to continue their professional development, but I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the matter.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/teachers/teachers-how-much-more-can-we.html