
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 10, 1990                   TAG: 9004100617
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA                                LENGTH: Short

BLACK TEACHERS' SUIT OVER PAY DISMISSED

A federal judge has dismissed a class action lawsuit brought by seven black Fairfax County teachers who alleged that the school system's merit pay program discriminates against minorities.

U.S. District Judge Albert Bryan Jr. ruled last week that the seven teachers didn't cite sufficient "evidence of discriminatory intent or disparate impact . . . to create a genuine issue."

Bryan also rejected the assertion that the awarding of merit pay is the technical equivalent of a promotion, a status that would have allowed the teachers to invoke civil rights laws applying to employee contracts.

The seven teachers said that white teachers, "because of their race and-or personal relationship with the principal," received higher ratings and got merit raises.

- Associated Press

by CNB