From the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
The median annual wage of kindergarten teachers was $48,800 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $31,720, and the top 10 percent earned more than $76,490.
The median annual wage of elementary school teachers was $51,660. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $34,390, and the top 10 percent earned more than $80,140.
Compare Americans generally:
The annual median wage fell in 2010 for the second year in a row to $26,364, a 1.2 percent drop from 2009, and the lowest level since 1999, according to David Cay Johnston at Reuters.
The Rationalist Conspiracy 
To be a teacher, and correct me if I’m wrong, you have to have a college degree. In NYC, you also have to be in the process of receiving your masters if you are a teacher for several years… so you have to take all this into account. Yes the teachers aren’t making 10k annually, however they have incurred debt from going to college/graduate school. I don’t think the same holds true for all Americans. Not every job requires a college degree, and even fewer require a masters degree. So in summary, this stats are interesting, but are only 5% of the story.
OK then:
“The inflation-adjusted median salary for a person with a bachelor’s degree fell about 3%, adjusted for inflation, to $47,240 last year from 2000.”
– http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122100588052317381.html
Also get more time off, have more benefits, more job security and arguably do the least quality work. Anyone ever heard of another business where 25% of clients drop the service and almost no one is fired?
“Anyone ever heard of another business where 25% of clients drop the service and almost no one is fired?”
Err… health clubs, cell phone companies, banks, mutual funds, private colleges/schools, newspapers, barbers, restaurants…
Barbers, restaurants, newspapers, etc. fire people continually – certainly at a much higher rate than teachers are fired.