Teacher pay is not extremely low. The median teacher salary is usually pretty close to the median salary for the state. Plus they get good benefits, a pension, and much more time off than other jobs. It's a solid middle class life.
Anecdotes tell you very little about the bigger picture.
> ...median annual income of $58,230.
> This number would be above the average salary in the U.S., but it's the median of an awfully wide range of salaries. Elementary school teachers in the bottom 10% of income only made around $37,780, while those in the highest 10% could make as much as $95,270.
You then scroll down to the section on per-state numbers and see the wide gaps between states. You also see that this article, like others, suddenly jump to using mean instead of median.
I usually don't play this card, but show the data. You are likely only looking at a specific statistical lens that does not paint a real picture.
[1]: https://www.niche.com/blog/teacher-salaries-in-america/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/careers/2018/05/16/stat...
The fact that people constantly compare teaching salaries to non-professional jobs and minimum wage workers is very telling.