I agree wholeheartdly with you Michelle. I have been working in China for almost 3-years and have grown to love China and the Chinese people. I have also met teachers and read about teachers who have had a horrendous experience in China. I myself went through such an experience my first year in China. But I didn't give up and have found some really good schools with amazing, friendly and generous people.
I think what people have to realise is that there are good and bad people where ever you go. Some of the teachers I've met have been wonderful, unfortunatly some have been very bad. The bad ones are just here because they can't achieve much else where they come from, they are "takers" not "givers". Some of them are young and lack the maturity to learn from others and give respect. A lot of problems I think that exist between the foreign teacher and the school is not so much a lack of respect but a lack of understanding. I would suggest that anybody wanting to come to China to teach should first of all make sure you have a good understanding of the English language, not only oral but grammatical as well. Secondly you should at least have a basic understanding of Chinese culture and etiquette, mabye then your experiences will have been as richly rewarding as mine have been.
Good Luck.