Data from state education departments show some surprising differences between Omaha and Council Bluffs public school teachers.
OPS teachers make much less — $11,000 less to be specific.
"It is a problem that our district sees, I know that the district as well as the community members only want to give the teachers all the tools needed to educate the students," says Robert Miller.
Omaha Education Association President Robert Miller says the biggest issue OPS has, is that it loses its teachers after they get experience.
"The fact that OPS has a high turnover rate and loses teachers to suburban districts as well as Council Bluffs, is a factor that we're facing. Why is that, I have no idea," says Miller.
Still the average years of teaching experience is quite similar and in fact, OPS teachers have by far more masters degrees.
So what else could make the difference?
The CBPS superintendent's office says that Iowa state data is skewed, as supplemental income such as professional development training is included in the total salary figure, while Nebraska does not include that extra income.
Despite that, Miller hopes the numbers change and says it starts at the state level.
"The discrepancy is the overall funding available to education. I know in Iowa, the government contributes more state dollars than Nebraska does." says Miller.
