Union Negotiates A Third of a Percent Pay Raise for New Omaha Teachers
by John Gage
OMAHA – The Omaha Public Schools (OPS) and the Omaha Education Association, the local teachers’ union, agreed to a $180 pay increase for new teachers for the 2026-2027 school year. The school board voted to increase the base salary for teachers from $51,200 to $51,380 on Monday.
The increase represents a 0.35% pay increase for new teachers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation in the past year has been at 2.4% – outpacing OPS’s pay increase by roughly seven times the rate.
“I think our union members knew that this is what we had to accept this year,” Kathy Poehling, president of the Omaha Education Association, told the Omaha World-Herald. “In order to look at the budget deficit next year, how district dollars are being spent, and then analyze how we move forward.”
The meager raise comes as OPS faces a $50 million deficit for the upcoming year after the state overpaid the district $30 million. Poehling said that neither the teacher’s union nor OPS is thrilled with their new agreement.
“Overall, it’s not exactly what we wanted, but it’s not exactly what the district wanted either.”
John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.
