Earlier this week, I gave you an overview of the Every Student Succeeds Act, the compromise No Child Left Behind rewrite that recently emerged from conference committee in D.C. At the end of that post, I mentioned how quickly the bill is moving. Well, as it turns out, it’s moving even more quickly than I had anticipated.

The U.S. House passed the bill with a 359-64 vote yesterday. And according to a New York Times article about the effort, it’ll may soon clear the U.S. Senate and, most notably, the President’s desk:

After months of compromise and negotiation, the bill earned nearly unanimous approval from a conference committee of House and Senate members two weeks ago, and is expected to be passed by the Senate next week. A White House official said Wednesday that President Obama plans to sign it when it reaches his desk.

I’m not surprised to hear that the Senate will be taking up the bill quickly, but this is the first time I’ve seen official(ish) word that the White House intends to sign the compromise. All things considered, I think that’s great news.

I’ll keep you up to date on what happens next, but it is sure looking like a No Child Left Behind rewrite could soon be a reality—almost ten years after that probably should have happened. If that is indeed the way this all plays out, your favorite edu-wonk and his friends will have their work cut out for them figuring out the what, how, and when of our new education reality in Colorado. Plus, we’ll all need to get used to the new set of acronyms and helping people understand them.  NCLB with ESSA/ESEA.

Shortly thereafter, I will again be stalking the halls of the Colorado State Capitol. Putting control over important things like accountability fully back into the hands of states is great news, but it also means that we’ll all have to work extra hard to make the case for why these systems are so critically important.

Stay tuned!