The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board approved and sent to county commissioners a 2011-12 budget request on Tuesday seeking an additional $50million to help save more than 1,000 jobs and protect the Bright Beginnings preschool program.

The request, approved on a 5-4 vote, came amid intense debate over Superintendent Peter Gorman's plans to create dozens of new tests as part of a performance-pay plan for teachers.

Debate on the budget request quickly turned into an extended debate over performance pay when board member Kaye McGarry proposed an amendment to the budget motion. She moved that the board shelve Gorman's performance-pay project and, where possible, redirect dollars to saving teacher jobs.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is spending $1.2million on performance pay this year, much of it from grants.

"When you are pouring this much money into something that's unproven in an economy like this, that is not the way to go," McGarry said, "and it takes courage to say, 'Stop!'"

Three other board members - Joyce Waddell, Tom Tate and Richard McElrath - supported her. McElrath echoed her concerns about the lack of clear, uncontradicted research showing such performance-pay plans work.

McElrath said it distracted from the real problem: segregated housing patterns that concentrate poor students in low-performing schools.

But Trent Merchant called that "a 50-year argument," and noted that the status quo, with high drop-out rates and low performance among some students, is unacceptable. He called on the board and the public to rally behind Gorman's efforts to use performance pay to improve teaching and learning.

"It's not perfect, but we're on the right path," he said.

McGarry's proposal fell one vote shy of passage, as Merchant and the four remaining board members opposed it.

The budget request sets up what figures to be an intense debate among county commissioners, who supply 26 percent of CMS' budget. The total operating budget would be $1 billion if approved by commissioners.

The documents outlining the budget request call for the county to increase its funding of CMS by $50million above last year. The documents also show the additional money would return county support to its 2008-09 level after two years of cuts.

Board members said they realize the biggest cuts appear to be coming from the state this year, and pledged to continue lobbying state lawmakers who have proposed deep reductions.

"I feel we need to ask for what we need," Joe White said. "I feel that's a moral obligation on my part."

But other board members suggested the school board should have made the cuts necessary to close the school system's estimated $100million budget gap, rather than asking the county for more money.

"It's up to us to make the tough decisions and not pass the buck," Rhonda Lennon said. "I don't get to tell my employer how much to pay me each week."

The budget request passed despite "no" votes from McGarry, McElrath, Lennon and Waddell.

It now goes before county commissioners. CMS supporters have been asking commissioners to use the increased property values from the recent revaluation to give the district more money.

Some said at Tuesday's school board meeting that if the county kept last year's tax rate, the increased property values could pull in $70million more.

New figures from the county show that, if the commission instead sets a new tax rate designed to bring in roughly the same amount of money as last year, 50.9 percent (164,447) of households would see their property tax bill decrease and 48.9 percent (157,966) would see an increase.

However, if the current tax rate were maintained, 60.1 percent (194,094) of households would have an increase in their property tax bill and 36.8 percent (119,021) a decrease.

Commissioner Bill James said the figures showed the county should lower rates to minimize increases in tax bills. He called the $50 million request an "absurd" attempt to pressure commissioners.

He wrote in an email: "We don't have the money and frankly they should be putting the squeeze on the group that is cutting their funds (the President, Congress, and the Gov and Legislature)."

Staff writer April Bethea contributed.