No. A lot of people do what they feel is their calling and still get a reasonable, living wage for it. It can /should be less than the private sector, but not as far off as it is.

Philly sounds like an exception. I've taught in CO and NY, with a MA. My starting salaries were $48k and $44k, respectively. That is not competitive. It will cause good people to burn out.

We live in capitalism. We all have bills, we all have dreams. If you want more talented people doing something, you pay a better salary. If you don't like the quality of teachers and you're not willing to raise pay, you're delusional. Many young people doing a cost/benefit analysis will flinch, and every time that happens you lose a high-quality teacher.

This is how labor markets work. You can pout about how it should be about "passion" all you want, but you'll never fix the problem.