Yes, they are well paid. At least in Seattle where this event occurred. The entry level salary for a police officer is $84k/year (http://www.seattle.gov/police/police-jobs/salary-and-benefit...).

I also think teacher's need to be held to a higher bar. Not that they do a bad job on average, but when they do there appears to be little accountability. But that's completely irrelevant to the article.