Ed Dept to address TEACH grant errors, reconvert loans for thousands of affected teachers

Under a new plan released over the weekend, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) will give thousands of teachers whose TEACH grants were incorrectly converted to tens of thousands of dollars in loans a chance to prove they were following the program's guidelines. They will also receive credit for those years and have their loans converted back to grants, NPR reports.The decision follows an investigation by NPR, the department's own review of the program, and a letter to the department from 19 U.S. senators. In addition, teachers who can prove they've fulfilled all four years of service teaching a high-need subject in a low-income school under the grant's requirements could see their debts erased entirely.For most educators, the problem with the program boiled down to issues with paperwork, as the form was called "too complicated and confusing" by the department itself, sent to outdated addresses, had to be completed over the summer when principals whose signatures were required were often on vacation, and often faced deadline issues in general.