My husband is a teacher. I know. What is a summer vacation?
All salaries are relative to perceived worth. Teachers are not valued while pro-athletes are. This is because most people don't want to do the job, because they remember teachers as someone who made them follow the rules and do homework, bad memory. Most guys would like to be a pro-, adoring fans, big bucks and women.
I'm always amazed at how many people of IQ's at the genius level we have. They all learned to read, do math and program computers on their own. No teacher needed or wanted. Believe it or not this lack of respect for teachers carries over into Med. School and Grad. School, just get me out so I can make money. I already know it all.