This morning, President Obama signed S. 1177 (Conference Report H 114-354), the “Every Student Succeeds Act,” into law at a bi-partisan ceremony at the White House. The President was joined by Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, along with Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA), the senior leaders on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, as well as Congressmen John Kline (R-MN) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) from the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and other key congressional members and advocates.

Earlier this week, the House voted 359-64 and approved S. 1177 (the “Every Student Succeeds Act”), a measure that would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) for the first time since 2002, ending an eight year effort to rewrite the legislation that was known as “No Child Left Behind.”  The Senate is expected to vote on this measure next week, where it’s expected to handily pass and head to President Obama for signature shortly after.  The White House has publicly endorsed S. 1177.

Earlier today, Congress approved a short-term continuing resolution (CR) keeping the Federal government funded through December 11. The CR includes no spending cuts to any domestic programs and, instead, funds all programs at FY 2015 levels as leaders negotiate a final deal.

While the CR easily passed both chambers of Congress, it will be extremely difficult to pass a year-long bill before the end of the year. The most notable reason is the departure of House Speaker, John Boehner (R-OH), who announced his resignation late last week. Speaker Boehner’s last day in Congress is October 30.

Earlier today, the Senate approved the “Every Child Achieves Act” (S. 1177) with an 81-17 vote. S. 1177 would replace No Child Left Behind and would retain some features of the current law, including standardized testing, but overall S. 1177 would give more flexibility to states and reduce the Federal government’s role in the nation’s education policy.

Tomorrow, the Senate will begin deliberating S. 1177, the “Every Child Achieves Act of 2015,” which would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), something Congress has not done since 2001. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee unanimously approved this bill on April 16.