In the face of annual budget deficits, sequestration means automatic, across-the-board spending cuts to all federal agencies. This drastic step allows Congress to limit the size of the budget and gives it the right to make mandatory cuts if the cost of running the government exceeds the cap. On March 1, we all watched as Congress was unable to come to an agreement on how to reduce the $16.5 trillion national debt. This triggered the mandatory sequestration procedures: 5 percent across-the-board cuts to federal programs and activities except for those that Congress identified as exempt (such as Social Security and certain parts of the defense budget). Federal funding for education will be cut by $2.5 billion in fiscal year 2013, and the cuts are currently scheduled to continue through the 2021 fiscal year. In this article Jenny House provides some of the major myths--and corresponding truths--about how education budgets will be impacted by sequestration.