Teachers tend to want to compare themselves to the very highest paid professionals only.

If a teacher wanted to do my job, she would get paid according to 1) highest degree obtained, 2) subject of degree, 3) years since degree obtained.

If I wanted to teach, I'd have to throw away all of my earned experience and start at the bottom of the heap. Right now I teach "advanced" topics in computer science as a volunteer. They're advanced because the teacher doesn't understand them - and I'm fine with that. This guy has had to learn java largely on his own and, besides, one doesn't become an expert programmer just by taking courses. So if I were to switch careers I'd start at ground zero. I hired a teacher intern this past year and paid her the same thing she was making as a teacher. (OTOH, I have more leeway than a principal would.)

They give the pretense that they're just trying to "ensure that only qualified people get in the classroom," but their requirements seem almost completely orthogonal to that stated goal.