Well I'm just a classroom high school teacher and I get just a little under that. Surely teachers aren't in the 'highly paid' category. I would assume there are public servants, police officers or defence personnel getting these sorts of salaries as well.
I would have thought that the skills and strengths required to successfully control air traffic would have allowed an individual to experience success in another profession beforehand.
I'm just saying that the best people who have the requirements for the job (ATC) are probably already using these skills to earn good money in their current profession. So that would limit the quality of people who apply for training.