"(though you'd think they could move mountains by the way some people talk)."
Oh..they do move mountains in our area.
There's no way they would stand for the situation you describe here.
Most of the teachers at my school and area aren't really political at all because they actually have other things like their family to worry about after school. I am fairly political, but I have so much going on that I don't always have time to deal with the "politics" either. The biggest ones in power here are the bureaucrats (in the legislature). If we cross them too much, some get pretty vindictive. But you make do and do the best job you can.