I imagine Jonas Salk had more to do with his eduction than the whole of his teachers. Very smart people are like that.
But since you bring it up, how much were Jonas Salk's teachers paid?
His parents were virtually illiterate Russian immigrants. He went to public school in NYC and then City college.
The next Jonas Salk will probably be the son or daughter of poorly educated immigrant parents and will go to NYC schools. The only difference will be that he/she will be Asian.
Teachers back then -- a largely female staff -- made only slightly less than today in real dollars.