I'll chime in.
Background:
I've been teaching high school chemistry for a decade.
Suburban-type, middle class community.
I have a master's degree.
I'll make close to $70k this year.
I coach cross country and track which adds almost another $10k to that.
I think both arguments have some good points. Do teachers make too much for their 9 months of work? Or is the profession one which is hard to understand if you aren't in it day in and day out, realizing that those 8-10 weeks of off-time can be crucial?
I have a pretty good math and science brain, but certainly not an extraordinary one. I took math, chemistry, and physics courses in college that spanned quite a few difficult topics, relativity, differential equations, introductory quantum mechanics, etc. I had plenty of classmates who were really into those things and really good at those things. I was neither really into them or really good at them. Had I had been more interested, and had I thought it would be important for me to really grasp those concepts for my future career, I certainly could have done better, but I never would have excelled at the level of some of my peers.
I honestly think I'm pretty damn good at what I do: relating to and teaching chemistry to high school juniors. I take pride in it. Retaining a little information about some of those advanced topics has been useful in various ways, but I don't think it's what makes me a good teacher. Should I get paid less than those who have the ability and discipline to take an advanced understanding of the aforementioned topics and apply it in the engineering or pure science fields? Maybe so. It doesn't necessarily bother me if that's the case. They are willing and able to do something that I am not as willing, and in some cases not as able, to do.
On the other side of it, I'm not sure you want those same people in the classroom every day, either. I think there are some innate characteristics that many teachers have that can be honed, but are difficult to learn. I'm certainly better at "reading the room" and responding than I was 10 years ago, but I've always felt like I had a knack for the relational and relatability qualities needed, and enjoyed those aspects.
The other aspect that is highly variable is the amount of time a teacher and coach is willing to put into the job during those 9-10 months. There are about 8 months out of the year during cross country, indoor, and outdoor track, that I spend 70+ hours at the school and at meets. I arrive at the school around 5:45am so I can have an hour and a half before school to work on class prep. Practice is usually from 3:ish to 5ish, and then another 30-45 minutes is spent in my room wrapping up practice plans and having things somewhat set for the next day at school. I am in no way complaining as a lot of that is a choice, but I will say when June rolls around, I'm pretty pooped. I get a lot of recharge from the summer months. If it were a year-round job, I don't think I would be able to do it at the same level of production. So, what do I deserve to get paid? I don't really know. I'm more than happy with my compensation and I really enjoy what I do, performing period after period, and practice after practice, does take a good toll and I'm incredibly thankful for the downtime.