An item in the “News in Brief: A Washington Roundup” section of the March 23, 2003, issue of Education Week (“Rep. Miller Proposes Student-Loan Tax Breaks”) incorrectly stated that a federal program offering student-loan forgiveness to certain new teachers is subject to discretionary funding from Congress. Instead, the funding for the loan- forgiveness program is mandatory, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Under a pending proposal backed by the Bush administration to expand the forgiveness amount for teachers in mathematics, science, and special education, that funding would remain mandatory, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
A Capitol Recap story in the June 18 issue incorrectly identified decreases in Minnesota’s state aid to K-12 schools as the total amount budgeted. The state budget for the 2004 and 2005 fiscal years cut funding for K-12 education by $131.1 million, or 1.1 percent, compared with the state’s previous budget.