Sadly, this is unsurprising. To the left, more regulation is always the answer. (My goldfish died! -MORE REGULATIONS! I can't find my car keys -MORE REGULATIONS!)
Honestly, elementary and junior high school teaching positions shouldn't require a college degree, but most get their master's or higher...
I haven't run the numbers, but I'm betting that the cost of a K-12 education tracks almost perfectly with the amount of education/training that most teachers have while the student achievement is like not correlated with the education/training of said teachers.