@akratic - I'm not sure what your point is. If it's that teachers in general are underpaid as a profession, I wholeheartedly agree. Otherwise, my 62k/year (not quite "almost over six figures", lol) includes locality pay for one of the highest cost of living areas in the country, and it is still barely above the average of 58k for my city/zip code. Teaching and national averages are both poor comparisons. Teachers are notoriously underpaid. National averages include Wal-Mart and McDonalds employees at minimum wage. No, my specific position didn't require an engineering degree, although some do--mine required two years experience and a high GPA in undergrad. If I were to take my primary functions--IT security policy and contract/project management--to the private sector, in my locality, I certainly would expect either a comparable salary or HIGHER (albeit less benefits).
All that said, of course my salary and benefits are better than the national average! That's why I spent two years of my life getting applicable experience through contracting, applying to federal openings and repeatedly interviewing--because it's a good way to get a fair price for my labor. Especially in this area, where the cost of living is so high simply BECAUSE there are federal jobs (the stat on 27% being feds in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area sounds about right). Despite the obvious stereotypes of government workers, I work plenty hard for the money, and I would venture to say my job is more complex, with a greater amount of responsibility and more stress than the average.
I would also offer that perhaps any perceived disparity is not due to overcompensated public employees, but a private sector that has been increasingly UNDERcompensated for thirty years--a trend that is not-so-mysteriously concurrent with lowered taxes on the highest incomes and the explosion of executive pay in the private sector at 300 times the rate of the average employee's. (FYI, the total aggregate pay for the "executive" level salary in the federal government cannot exceed the salary of the Vice President of the US, something like 230k. What did your CEO make last year?
Keep in mind it was not long ago that government work was considered "lower pay", with the compromise being that it was more secure with better benefits and pension. That was the compromise. Now that private sector is unsecure AND low pay, everyone's up in arms, of course.
But don't let these facts stand in your way. I'm pretty used to the role of public employees as convenient scapegoats for the country's economic problems. Since I don't identify myself with my career (obviously), it's not like I take it personally. I usually just hide or obfuscate what I do in most company--I imagine you see why, eh? LOL... Thanks for the welcome. I guess?