School officials question $72.1M fund hike for N. Va.

As Hampton Roads educators reel from multiple blows to local school budgets, a bonus for Northern Virginia school divisions is drawing new scrutiny.

Eighteen localities either in Northern Virginia or within commuting distance are slated to get $72.1 million in extra funds from the state this year.

The money, called Cost of Competing Adjustments, recognizes the added expense of hiring teachers and other staff in the region. The bonuses, originally restricted to nine divisions bordering the state line, date to 1988. But in recent years, other neighboring divisions such as Spotsylvania and Winchester have begun to get a smaller portion of the funds.

The extra monies are "on the table" as legislators work on a version of the state budget to release Sunday, said Del. Bob Tata, a Beach Republican who heads the House Education Committee. Tata said he doesn't believe that all the communities that receive this money should be getting it.

Jim Merrill, superintendent of Virginia Beach schools, questioned the fund's fairness.

"In South Hampton Roads, we are all trying to beat our neighbors" on salary, he said. "We don't ask the state for extra money to be No. 1."

The average teacher salary in Fairfax is $64,559, among the top in the state, compared with $53,343 in Virginia Beach.

The money is awarded regardless of school divisions' ability to pay higher salaries and covers a small portion of school personnel costs. But the total can be significant.

The Fairfax and Prince William divisions are each slated to receive about $23 million from the fund in 2010.

Virginia Beach is the state's third largest school division, behind Fairfax and Prince William.

Keith Imon, spokesman for Prince William County Public Schools, said the division uses the money "so we can have the best and brightest teachers in our classrooms."

Despite high unemployment rates, he said the market for teachers in that area is still competitive. Average pay for Prince William teachers is $63,873.

Dominic Melito, president of the Virginia Beach Education Association, which represents teachers and other school employees, said the solution is to increase teacher pay in Virginia overall.

"The areas they're competing with, in D.C. and Maryland, teachers are paid much better," Melito said.

Milton Liverman, president of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, urged school leaders to band together to improve school funding, rather than criticizing current allocations.

Earlier this week, 87 of the state's 132 school superintendents, including Liverman, sent a letter to Gov. Bob McDonnell protesting his support for a scheduled change in the school funding formula.

The effect of the change would shift education dollars to Northern Virginia, the Eastern Shore and several counties in the far western part of the state at the expense of Hampton Roads and most other areas.

"This budget crisis has already pitted regions against each other at a time when we should all be working together even more closely," said Liverman, the Suffolk Public Schools superintendent, in an e-mail.

But Portsmouth schools Superintendent David Stuckwisch said he understands the concern over the Cost of Competing payments.

Because the payments have been around for so long, "it's not usually talked about," he said. But the potential shift of other education money to Northern Virginia schools has revived the issue.

"It looks like they're double-dipping," Stuckwisch said. "Now everyone's crying foul."

Pilot writer Deirdre Fernandes contributed to this story.

Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com