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Negotiators for the Vermont House and Senate have a deal on education reform. After days of tense debate, six lawmakers tasked with hammering out a deal shook hands Friday afternoon on historic legislation that � if enacted � would upend nearly everything about how the state funds and governs its K-12 schools.

Less than 24 hours before that handshake, House lawmakers appeared ready to walk away. But they returned on Friday morning with a counter-proposal instead that their Senate counterparts accepted.

“What we needed to think on overnight is getting real clear on what happens if we don’t pass this bill,� Brattleboro Rep. Emilie Kornheiser said Friday. “And right now in Vermont, we know that kids are not getting the kinds of resources they need for their education, and property tax bills are really unstable.�

But whether at hand will become law is another matter. With a vote on scheduled for Monday, legislative leaders will need to spend the weekend coaxing a highly reluctant rank-and-file to sign on the dotted line.

Gov. Phil Scott said at a press conference Friday afternoon that he supported the House and Senate deal. The Republican governor has repeatedly said he would call lawmakers back to the Statehouse if they adjourned without sending him a comprehensive education reform bill. On Friday, he said that condition would hold if majorities in the House and Senate fail to send the bill to his desk.

“This is that important,� he said.

The proposed legislation would broadly accomplish two things: It would pave the way for the wide-scale consolidation of both schools and districts, and it would transition Vermont to a foundation formula, where the state � not local voters � decided how much schools spend.

The bill is loaded with off-ramps. The most important is that lawmakers must approve new school district maps in order for other reforms, including the foundation formula, to begin coming online in 2028. That would require lawmakers to engage in the deeply controversial task of redistricting in an election year � and guarantees a tough road ahead for reform, even if the bill makes it into law.

Scott predicted the next legislative session would be “just as challenging, if not more.�

The bill also commissions a slew of studies and reports, including on the cost of special education, career and technical education, and secondary schools, which would be used to adjust the formula currently embedded in the bill.

“One way that I would describe this is that there are at least 1,000 moving pieces. This bill deals with about 100 of them,� said Seth Bongartz, a Bennington Democrat who chairs the Senate Committee on Education. “We have a lot more to go, and a lot more thought to be given to how this all fits together in the end.�

The legislation’s champions say it will stabilize taxes, redirect spending where it is most needed, and create a more streamlined governance system.

But its critics are furious about the implications for local control and rural schools. The bill would seek to create school districts with at least 4,000 students, and would establish class-size minimums that could result in school closures.

Independent schools also remain a sticking point. The bill would significantly curtail which private schools remain eligible to receive public funding. Independent schools that are located in a district that operates a public K-12 system, for example, would no longer qualify � neither would private schools where fewer than 25% of students are publicly funded. That’s a big win for public education advocates.

But those same groups are worried that new district lines could lead to school choice in new communities. And they’re upset with provisions they believe could unfairly compensate private schools that run career and technical centers.

Brian Stevenson

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Enacting a foundation formula, through which each district would receive a set amount per pupil, would also lead to widespread upheavals. Its champions say that such a system would finally guarantee adequate funding in districts that have historically struggled to pass budgets and spent well under the state average.

“It means teachers in those schools don’t have to picket, begging their neighbors to vote their school budgets in,� Kornheiser said. “It means that districts can budget consistently year to year and count on those resources coming to them. And it means no matter where you live, whether that’s Barre City or Burlington or Brattleboro, you’re going to have the same opportunities available to your kids.�

But it also risks raising taxes in those same communities � which are, by definition, most tax-averse. Districts that have traditionally spent above the average, meanwhile, could see dramatic reductions in funding.

While the formula in the bill is, in effect, provisional, and expected to be significantly revised before implementation, Scott and lawmakers say they’re confident it will ultimately bend the cost curve. A section in the bill would also enact a new second home tax that would be expected to help offset property taxes on resident homeowners.

“I believe that we'll be spending less, and our projections show that it will save again hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few years,� the governor said.

Those projections have not yet been made public.

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý reporter Peter Hirschfeld contributed to this report.