TRENTON -- Top Democratic state lawmakers who had been pushing competing plans to repair education funding in New Jersey said Wednesday they have agreed to a deal that would increase state funding by $125 million.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and state Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson) said their plan would add $100 million in new K-12 funding and $25 million to expand pre-kindergarten.

Notably, it would also reallocate $46 million in existing school funding to some of the state's neediest districts, including those that have experienced major enrollment increases.

The lawmakers did not immediately say which districts would see a reduction in state aid if the plan is approved by Gov. Chris Christie. The governor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The deal retains New Jersey's framework for funding public schools, rejecting Christie's call last year for a drastic overhaul that would pump more aid into suburban districts.

Importantly, it would eliminate a cap lawmakers had placed on how much a district's state aid can increase in a given year, a major win for districts that had gained many new students but seen little-to-no increase in state funding.

In doing so, however, New Jersey could eventually be on the hook for hundreds of millions in additional school aid. Republican leaders have called that spending unsustainable, but Sweeney previously said the state would find a way to gradually meet that commitment.

"This is a significant reform that lifts the Growth Cap to provide increased aid to fast-growing districts," Sweeney said in a statement, adding that the plan would begin to phase out an aid formula that provides more state aid to some districts "than they are entitled to receive."

Sweeney wanted to increase funding over five years and reverse a stipulation added to the formula by state lawmakers that guarantees school districts at least the same level of state aid they've received in prior years.

He threatened to hold up the state budget, due at the end of this month, unless it increased aid for public schools.

Prieto has long resisted backing Sweeney's plan, which the senator announced last year. He had objected to any proposal that would reduce a district's aid.

This agreement would shift money away from districts considered overfunded based on the current funding formula -- but by no more than 1.5 percent of their budget.

Prieto's plan would have added $125 million to help some of the state's most financially distressed school districts for one year. It included the $25 million to expand pre-K.

"I'm thrilled at the $25 million to expand preschool education," Prieto said. "Expanding preschool education may be the most significant aspect of this agreement."

Though lawmakers described the funding plan as "groundbreaking," it's just a small fraction of the $13 billion the state spends on education funding each year, including more than $9 billion in direct support.

The agreement is far from the complete funding overhaul Christie had sought when he introduced his own plan to give every school district the exact same amount of state aid per student.

That would have been a windfall for 75 percent of school districts but would have dealt a major blow to districts with the highest percentage of students from low-income families, primarily urban districts that Christie criticized for high spending and low graduation rates.

He gave up that plan in February, instead challenging the Democratic leadership to work with him to devise a new formula within 100 days, a deadline that passed last week.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Adam Clark contributed to this report.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.