Ok, let's make that comparison: a CPS teacher makes 70k, and teachers have low single-digit unemployment and defined-benefit pensions. Lawyers, on the other hand, make a median 110k, but don't have a 3 month vacation, don't as a rule have defined-benefit pensions, and have ~12%(!) unemployment.
A lawyer is also required to shoulder an average of 85k of postgraduate education to enter the field; a high school teacher can start with a bachelors.
Unemployment rates for teachers are projected to fall. The unemployment picture for lawyers is bleak, due to the slow-motion collapse of biglaw.
And yet, those current and prospective unemployed lawyers almost certainly aren't flocking to become teachers! There are absolutely things that are attractive about teaching, I'm not at all arguing that it's the pits, just that it isn't as competitive for talent as I would like it to be. I'd love to see more of those smart kids from Stanford that go work on websites go educate our youth instead.
A lawyer is also required to shoulder an average of 85k of postgraduate education to enter the field; a high school teacher can start with a bachelors.
Unemployment rates for teachers are projected to fall. The unemployment picture for lawyers is bleak, due to the slow-motion collapse of biglaw.