eventually moved to a different state and took a job at a school that doesn't meet TEACH requirements.

Enlarge this image toggle caption Beth Nakamura for NPR Beth Nakamura for NPR

The problem for Libsack and teachers like her is that the program requires four years of teaching within an eight-year window. Even with the department's initial fix, Libsack would have very little time to quit her current job, potentially move again, and find a new job in a qualifying school to complete her required service. And some teachers have no time left at all.

In February, Libsack flew to Washington, D.C., to share her story with the government committee that has been tasked with rewriting the rules.

"Living on a teacher's salary at a low-income school, I had just enough tolive," Libsack told the committee. "I loved teaching, but I felt overwhelmed and defeated when my TEACH Grant was converted."

That rules committee heard Libsack and voted to expand the department's fix to include teachers like her. They agreed to go back and pause the eight-year clock at the time when a teacher's grants were first converted.

For Libsack, that means she should now have five more years to complete her final year of service. She'll still need to change schools to qualify. That's not ideal, she says, but it will mean she won't have to pay upward of $20,000 in loans. Libsack says she's now feeling "hopeful" because her government finally listened.

"For me, as a teacher, it's awesome," she says, "because then I can convey that to the students