Teaching is a profession that one must improve on every year. The first if these is the most important. All other professionals are regulated by a board that consists of members of that profession. This is not true of teaching. How would you like it if your doctor performed the surgery that a non-doctor Congressman or beuracrat thinks is aproproate, instead of the one that he sees fit.
Teaching is definitely a profession.
In order to be a teacher one must obtain a degree and license to teach. Then teachers must continuously take tests and often times more courses to improve themselves in their profession. If someone thinks that teaching is not a profession then let them try to teach. It is then that they will realize how difficult a profession teaching can be. One cannot just go into a school and say I want to be teacher.