yes, teaching can suck (and I passed my Level III skiing, not yet Level III, but the skiing is arguably the harder test, and I passed it first time too), but it can also make you a much better skier, too. But I know I have heard of some mountains that do not allow their employees to free ski (they can only ski when teaching) - that sucks. The way I look at it, living in MA, and skiing on (primarily) and teaching on 240 feet of vertical, at least its on snow. There are a lot of people that only make it to the snow 5-10 times a year, and I probably average 100+ days a year on snow (even though most is only on 240 feet), how can I complain. Even though I would love to go west to live and teach and ski all the time, the East Coast kicks ass. Out west there is a totally different scene. A lot of areas are all about money and showboating, and that is not what the sport is, its about going out having fun, skiing hard, and kicking the mountains ass (when you can).
Get good on the East Coast and you'll get the respect you deserve out West (when you make it out there).