The old rallying cry of “no child left behind” has become “every student succeeds” and supporters are saying the turn of phrase translates into a more positive direction for American education.

The United States Congress completed passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act earlier this week. The Senate overwhelmingly passed the act — set to replace the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 —  85-12 Tuesday, following its 359-64 passage in the House Dec. 2.

President Barack Obama signed the bill Thursday morning (see video above).

The bill was co-authored by Washington’s Democratic Sen. Patty Murray  alongside Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, as well as Rep. John Kline in the House. Separate House and Senate bills passed their chambers in July before the singular compromised bill — which did away with a House provision for student portability but reaffirmed some federal oversight — passed this month.

“I am thrilled that Congress came together to finally fix No Child Left Behind in a way that works for students, parents, teachers, and communities in Issaquah, across Washington state, and the country,” said Sen. Patty Murray, who co-authored the bill. “I fought hard to break through the gridlock and dysfunction in Congress to get this done, because I heard from too many families that the old law simply wasn’t working for them.”

The end of No Child Left Behind by itself could spell good news for Washington state schools, 90 percent of which had been categorized as failing under federal standards. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan revoked the state’s education waiver in early 2014, a step he made after deciding the state legislature had failed to fulfill a promise to tie teacher evaluations to standardized test scores.

Without a waiver in place, failing schools that received Title I funding to serve low income students were obligated to set aside a fifth of their federal dollars for student transfers to non-failing schools or academic interventions like tutoring.

In August, three Issaquah elementary schools receiving Title I funding — Briarwood, Clark and Issaquah Valley — sent out letters to parents notifying them of the failure and their options for transfer.

Every Student Succeeds doesn’t entirely do away with interventions for low-performing schools, but it redefines the criteria determining which schools require intervention while shifting the lion’s share of oversight to the states.

States will be required to develop “evidence-based solutions,” Murray’s deputy press secretary said, for the bottom 5 percent of schools, schools which fail to graduate two-thirds of students and schools that fail to show progress among certain student populations — such as students of color, students with disabilities, students speaking English as a second language and low-income students.

Issaquah School Board Director Lisa Callan said on Tuesday she welcomed the end of No Child Left Behind and the federal practice of mandating state policy through the selective issuance of waivers.

The Title I funding restrictions placed on Issaquah’s three elementary schools were not as burdensome as what was faced by larger neighboring districts, she said, but nevertheless translated into delays to important services for students while money was reassigned.

“I think it’s been very long overdue to have a reauthorization or an update,” Callan said. “[No Child Left Behind has] been broken for too long and at too great a cost. I’m looking forward to not having to live under waivers. I’m looking forward to not having to live with something so punitive.”

Callan said it was too early to discuss whether the Issaquah School District will reach out to the state superintendent as the state crafts an accountability plan, but said she believed the board would fully support engaging with Randy Dorn’s office as it went through that process.

The new education bill has earned its fair share of criticism as well. Writing on The Washington Post’s website Saturday, University of Washington teacher education professor Kenneth Zeichner took issue with language in Every Student Succeeds that he said promoted non-traditional and non-university teacher certifications as equivalent to a master’s degree in education. Zeichner argued that by making that determination on behalf of the individual states, the federal government overstepped its authority.

Callan said it was likely enough at present to usher out No Child Left Behind, noting that bills “always have unintended consequences” that can be worked out over time.

But with the Issaquah School District preparing to roll out a half-billion-dollar bond package for voters in 2016 in order to fund a massive expansion in the near future — including existing and new campuses — Callan said finding teachers to staff more classrooms would be a challenge in itself.

“We’re really concerned about the shortage of qualified teachers in general,” she said.