I’m embarrassed every time I look a teacher in the eye, because we ask them to do so much for so little.

McGraw frames teacher undercompensation as a moral discomfort rather than a mere policy dispute: the speaker feels “embarrassed” because society’s expectations (educating, mentoring, managing classrooms, often supplying resources) far exceed the material and institutional support provided. The line implies a collective responsibility—“we ask them”—and suggests that the imbalance corrodes civic integrity, making even direct personal interaction with teachers feel like an indictment. As a rhetorical move, it converts an abstract funding issue into an interpersonal ethical reckoning, urging audiences to see teacher pay and support as measures of social priorities and respect for public service.