RALEIGH - The Wake commissioners unanimously signaled their support Monday for accepting direct responsibility for building and maintaining the county's school buildings.

In a nonbinding 7-0 vote, the commissioners expressed their willingness to explore an agreement with the Wake school board that would fundamentally shift how facilities for education are funded.

The new arrangement was proposed last month by the Wake Education Partnership and the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. The groups seek to broker a measure of peace between Wake's often-feuding elected bodies -- bickering they said isn't good for business or students.

County Attorney Scott Warren told the commissioners Monday he is confident the legal language can be hammered out if both boards agreed to a deal.

"It's not about the county trying to take something from the school system," Warren said of what he termed an agreement between financial equals. "It will take two boards to move forward."

State law gives school boards responsibility for building and maintaining schools while county commissioners set the amount of money the schools get and levy taxes to pay for it.

This longstanding delineation of responsibilities sets up an inherent conflict between the two elected boards. School officials often push for more money than the commissioners are willing to demand from taxpayers.

Under the proposed agreement, the commissioners would assume responsibility for facilities planning, land acquisition, school construction and maintenance -- responsibilities currently held by the board of education.

The proposal's goal is to keep to a minimum the arguments over construction and budgets, while leaving the school board empowered to plot the course of education policy.

The proposal would also call for a multi-year funding formula for the school system with the objective of boosting funding and eliminating the gap in academic achievement between white students and blacks.

Budgets are now hashed out each May by the commissioners and the board of education. In the past, those discussions have instigated name-calling and brinkmanship that poisoned relations for the rest of the year.

Commissioner Tony Gurley, a frequent critic of the school system, is an enthusiastic supporter of the new proposal.

"Full steam ahead," Gurley said Monday. "This has long been an issue that has caused division between the two boards. I don't think this is a waste of time."

But the school board has yet to discuss the idea publicly. It remains an open question whether its members will cede control over facilities construction to county officials such as Gurley, a man some public school advocates regard as a nemesis.

School boosters have been cautiously supportive of a funding formula that they hope will lead to more money -- an enticing carrot that could bring them to the bargaining table.

School board member Eleanor Goettee welcomed Monday's resolution by the commissioners and said her board needs to take advantage of the opportunity to work out a deal.

"This was a green light for us to proceed with our end of it," Goettee said.

(Staff writer Keung Hui contributed to this report.)