> An average teacher salary in Chicago projected in their new contract is $110,000

Some quick Googling shows the average age of a Chicago teacher to be 41 years old. Is it insane to think that a professional with a master's degree should make the princely sum of $110,000 a year? Adjusted for inflation, that's less than I got in my first year as a software engineer.

That same quick googling would have told you that it is enough to have a BA degree and to pass a fairly short teachers prep program. You are comparing apples and oranges.

$110,000 is the base salary. Add to this pension contributions almost completely funded (granted this is no longer the case for the new hires), a retirement on a full pension at 55, and a stable job. Good luck having all of this working as a software engineer for a private company. You can be made redundant at no notice, and risk always carries a premium.