When I told my mom about "Teach: Tony Danza" (A&E, 10 tonight), the reality show that chronicles the actor's year-long experience as a 10th-grade English teacher, she said "Hmm. I could see that."

What mom, a retired educator, meant was that you can tell Danza has a teacher's heart. The man is likable, drips with sincerity, and seems awfully kind and caring.

But as you learn from "Teach," those qualities might make you right for the job, but they don't make you a teacher. And through Danza's experience, this excellent, engrossing, emotional journey makes plain what we mouth, but don't really live: Teaching is a noble and undervalued profession.