I hate the knee jerk, feel good, of course teachers should make more". It's reactionary, with no economic basis.
A. Teachers work 3/4 of the year, so $50,000.00 is more like 60-65K. At least in NY, their income is not taxed at the state level, so add 15% to their salary.
B. They have benefits greater than most public sector jobs. The value of those benefits is about 30-40K, annually.
C. They make more in retirement than most folks make working. So now the taxpayer is paying them almost as much not to work as they paid them to work.
D. Many are average or less than average at their job, and they are not accountable for the end product. If fact, the end product has decreased as overall teacher compensation has increased.
Being a teacher is a pretty good gig, as is.