Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs

FY2027: Increasing Access to Dual Language Bilingual Education

Fund Code: 0181

Purpose:

This competitive grant program, aligned with the DESE Educational Vision , is one of the multiple ways DESE is supporting districts that have English learners and wish to launch, expand, and/or sustain bilingual education programs, while also providing districts with an opportunity to create a more culturally and linguistically diverse workforce that can support bilingual education programs.

There are two goals for the grant.

Beginning in FY27 Goal 1 will be split into two objectives; starting a new program or expanding an existing program.

Goal 1: Plan and launch a new Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) program, or expand an existing DLBE program.

  • Goal 1a: Plan and develop a new dual language bilingual education (DLBE) program that will serve English learners, with the intention to launch the new program within 2–3 years.

  • Goal 1b: Plan for the expansion and/or growth of existing DLBE program(s) that will serve ELs in your district. This could include expanding an existing program into a new grade span (i.e., growing an elementary program into a middle school program), or planning to launch a new program in another language.

Applicants awarded for Goal 1a or Goal 1b commit to participating in DESE's DLBE Community of Practice during the 2026–2027 school year, which will involve attending monthly CoP sessions and collaborating with the CoP vendor partner and DESE staff.

Goal 2: Create or continue a "grow your own" Bilingual Education hub that would support and encourage multi-district collaboration with approved education preparation programs, improve the Bilingual Education educator pipeline, share knowledge to accelerate the adoption of proven and recognized programmatic models for English learners, and develop successful models that can be replicated for years to come.

Priorities:

Priority will be given to districts and schools in the strategic transformation region, and/or to LEAs with at least one participating school in the bottom 25% of proficiency rates on MCAS.

Eligibility:

This competitive grant program is designed for districts, charter schools, regional schools and collaboratives.

Funding Type:

State 7027-1004

The receipt of grant funds is contingent upon the grantee being able to certify that it will comply with the Massachusetts General Laws, including G.L. c. 40A, § 3A, the MBTA Communities Act. Compliance with the MBTA Communities Act is determined by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

Funding:

Approximately $1,250,000 is available.

This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.

Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.

Fund Use:

Grant funds may be used to:

  • For Goal 1A: Stipend educators for their engagement in the planning team and/or Community of Practice and/or substitute coverage for educators to attend CoP.
  • For Goal 1B: Additional professional development, consultation, or technical assistance outside of that which is already provided through the CoP to build district capacity for launching a new DLBE program, purchase of curricular materials and resources needed to expand the DLBE program.
  • For Goal 2: Contracts with IHEs, tuition, textbooks/materials for program participants, PD that contributes directly to Licensure or Bilingual Endorsement.

Items that may not be funded with this grant:

  • Out of state travel
  • Food or any other costs associated with district/school events for staff, students, or family/other stakeholders.
  • For Goal 2, any professional development that does not directly contribute to Licensure or Bilingual Endorsement
Project Duration:

SY: Upon Approval – 6/30/2027

Summer: 7/1/2027 – 8/31/2027 – Optional*

*To allow access for summer FY28 spending, grantees must reduce their School Year grants in the spring of 2027 to free up funding which will be rolled into FY28. There will be a separate funding application to submit for the FY28 summer portion.

Program Unit:

Teaching & Learning

Contact:

Diana.Gentile@mass.gov

Date Due:

Friday, August 28, 2026**

Proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. Eastern on the date due.

**Competitive grant applications are considered submitted when the grant application is submitted by the Superintendent or their designee through the "LEA Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved" step in GEM$. In order to be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application through the LEA Superintendent Approved stage by the due date and time listed in the RFP.

All responses must be submitted through proper steps and received by the due date/time listed above. Failure to do so will result in disqualification. Responses not received on time will not be reviewed. Applicants applying after the due date may be notified their application was received late and will not be reviewed. Applications must be submitted as directed in the Submissions Instructions below. Failure to do so may result in disqualification. If you need assistance with submitting your application, please reach out to the contact person listed on this funding opportunity.

DESE Competitive Grant Submission Policy

Additional Information:

An informational webinar will be held on Wednesday, August 5th at 10:00 a.m. You can register here. The presentation and a Questions and Answers document will be posted to Headlines on the English Learner Education page. Please submit questions to diana.gentile@mass.gov . Questions and Answers — Applicants can find all the questions asked regarding this funding opportunity and DESE's response.

Districts applying for Goal 2 funding will submit one application on behalf of the hub. The district submitting the application will act as fiscal manager for the hub. Other participating districts will provide an Affidavit of District Participation to be included in the application. If a previous awardee, please note any districts that are new to the bilingual hub this year.

All applicants awarded FC0181 funds may be required to present their results of funding at an OLA Network Meeting.

Universal screening data sharing
LEAs receiving this award will be required to participate in research efforts, including providing student-level assessment data from the approved early literacy screening assessment that is administered in all schools during the award period. DESE will request that data be submitted by June 30 of each year awarded. DESE will analyze the data collected for research purposes, including evaluation of this program. Analyses will comply with state and federal confidentiality laws.

Submission Instructions:

The FY27 0181 Increasing Access to Dual Language Bilingual Education grant will be submitted in our GEM$ system.

New organizations that do not have an established LEA with DESE skip to Step 3.

Step 1: Establish and assign proper roles before the grant due date/time. Grant Submission at the LEA level requires roles to be established for Grant writer for the specific fund code, LEA fiscal for financial review/approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign off.

All roles should be established prior to the grant due date and all appropriate forms should be either uploaded to GEM$, maintained at the LEA level or sent in to the DESE RFP contact as described on the individual forms. The user guidance documents and forms are found on the GEM$ homepage under DESE Resources. These forms can be accessed without logging in to the system.

Step 2: Submit the grant through all LEA steps in GEM$. There are three LEA steps a competitive grant must be submitted through by the due date and time to be considered for funding:

  • Grantwriter Submitted
  • LEA Fiscal Representative Approved
  • LEA Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved

Competitive grant applications are considered submitted once the grant application is submitted by the Superintendent or their designee through the "LEA Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved" step in GEM$. In order to be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application through the LEA Superintendent Approved stage by the due date and time listed in the RFP. Please plan accordingly.

The Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved Step allows for the organization lead to review and approve the grant application. Removing the requirement for the Part I Standard Contract Form, this step signifies Superintendent /Chief Executive sign off. Any grant budget changes requiring signature, will re-execute this step when amended signifying the organization lead is approving these changes.

Step 3: (If applicable) New organizations request temporary organization access. New organizations are entities that have not been established as an LEA in GEM$. Entities that do not have an organization established in GEM$ must contact the DESE Program Unit issuing this grant at a minimum 5 business days prior to the grant due date for temporary organization access.

Temporary Access will need to be created by DESE before you can then assign the proper roles and submit the grant as outlined in Steps 1 and 2.

Failure to provide DESE with GEM$ Temp Organization Access Request at least 5 business days prior to the due date may result in not meeting the submission due date listed above. DESE cannot accept or review applications after the due date.

Last Updated: June 30, 2026

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