Virginia District Suspends Heralded Merit-Pay System

By Daniel Gursky

One of the largest and best-known programs in the country tying teacher pay to performance fell victim to budget cuts last week, as the Fairfax County, Va., school board voted to suspend the district's merit-pay system for the 1992-93 school year.

The 7-to-4 vote, which followed a heated debate, came as something of a surprise to local observers. Many people had expected the board to scale back the amount of merit-pay bonuses from the current 9 percent, but a complete suspension of the program was not widely anticipated.

Superintendent of Schools Robert R. Spillane, who has made the controversial merit-pay plan one of his central reforms, described the action as "a regression toward mediocrity." He blamed the local teachers' unions for "putting all their efforts...