I don't have time to read all the posts, so I'm sure most of what I'll say has already been covered. Even so, I'll toss my perspective in.
When I finish school I'll have a Masters in Education and a BA in History with a minor in Poli-Sci, plus the equivalent of a BS between math and chemistry classes (and will very quickly work to a BS in each due to 'highly qualified' requirements). In addition I have to take about 24-36 credits in every endorsement area, which for me means history, math, and chemistry, for almost the equivalent of another bachelors degree. Every couple years I have to return to school for 3-9 credits, and ever 5 years I have to re-certify to keep my license which will mean additional classes.
I'll have to work 9 months a year every year, and ever 2nd-4th summer I'll work all summer. I have to be a faculty adviser for at least one extra-curricular which will probably be debate, drama, or knowledge bowl (by whatever name they call it). I'll have to show up by 7ish at the latest and won't get done with regular classes before 230-300. Then 1-2 hours for conferences, after school help, and my extra-curricular. So lets just round it and say 7-5 every day. I'll have to put in at least 1-3 hours a night grading homework and preparing for the next days classes. I'll have to also put that work in on weekends (not to mention tournaments and such), plus since History is my focus I'll probably need to use 2-6 hours every Saturday and Sunday for grading essays. So, I'll work 10-13 hours a day M-F, then 4-12 hours both weekend days, then my tournament schedule (which for debate would amount to about 20-30 hours every two weeks). In other words I'll put in a minimum of 70 hours a week for those 9 months that school is in. We haven't even covered staff meetings, educational conferences, parent/teacher conferences, finals, midterms, graduation projects, etc.
If I can find a full time position (which isn't easy for a new teacher unless your primary focus is science or math) then I'll earn between 32,000 and 42,000 a year. More likely I'll get a .4 or .6 position which will get me a whopping 16k (roughly) for all my time and money getting my education.
If you doubt my education requirements, pay scale, or hours you can easily Google to get the exact same answers from all the research done. Teachers put in at least as many hours of work in a year as every other profession. Teachers now require far more education than almost any jobs, and generally pay less for the required education.
I'm not complaining about my pay, because the benefits are great and it's what I've always wanted to do (not to mention being more than I've ever made before). However you need to think about what really goes into the job before you make comments about it.