Of course there's no set path for a PhD. I never claimed there was. But the fact that many PhDs teach at the high school level is a result of a saturated market. There is a gross oversupply of PhDs in many areas of the country, especially in non-STEM fields. There is no state in the US where a PhD is the required credential for teaching in secondary ed. Under employment is what it's called when people are hired into jobs with credentials that exceed the standard. But it's the standard that determines salary ranges.

There's no ad hominem attack here, simply an explanation of market forces (and I would point out your use of such an attack in your response to me). Your presented argument is that you're not compensated adequately for your degree. You've stated that you work harder than equally credentialed therapists. I think making the leap from personal dissatisfaction to an indictment that those with an equivalent level of education in a different profession are somehow greedy is absurd. Is therapy too expensive? No--it is whatever the market determines it to be, same as every other profession. Should therapy be more accessible at all price points? Yes, I think so. But that can only be widely accomplished through subsidy in our current market/insurance system.

We live in a country that does not fundamentally value education and that is what has dictated lower compensation for teachers at all levels. The fact that some other professions average higher compensation is irrelevant because we live in a capitalist economy. If you want a society in which relative worth and compensation is based on a different value system that's fine--but it's not the current reality.