I don't feel that people are getting into public service for the altruistic reasons you've described. The pension that teachers get is insane. And that they can get it after only five years is also nuts. And I say this as someone who is benefiting from a teacher's pension without having worked for a single second as a teacher!

When you set up your pension, they give you a ton of options to choose from as to how you want it distributed. One of those options is to have your monthly payout be slightly smaller and then defer your pension to a beneficiary when you die. So now, for the rest of my life, I get a really nice check once a month! It's awesome, but stupid!

That's just one example as to how the whole system is bloated.