The Commissioner on the federal grants (and two notes from me)

The (new) Commissioner of Education sent out an update on federal grants to districts today, which I am quoting here in full (followed by two notes from me):

Dear Superintendents, Charter School Leaders, and Leaders of Collaboratives,

As we enter the new fiscal year, I’m writing to update you on the status of this year’s FY26 (FFY25) federal education grant funding. 

Title I-A, Title I-D, Perkins, McKinney-Vento, and IDEA 

We received award notifications on July 1, 2025 for Title I-A, Title I-D, Perkins, McKinney-Vento Homeless, and IDEA. The state allocation amounts we received were consistent with previous years’ amounts, and we will now start the work of reviewing the grant award notifications and calculating LEA-level allocations.  

Title I-C, Title II-A, Title III-A, Title IV-A, and Title IV-B 

On June 30, 2025, all states received the following communication from the U.S. Department of Education: “Given the change in Administrations, the Department is reviewing the FY 2025 funding for the [Title I-C [Migrant Education, direct services provided through the Collaborative for Educational Services], II-A [Effective Educators, DESE grant fund code 140], III-A [English Learners, DESE grant fund codes 180 and 186], IV-A [Well-rounded Education, DESE grant fund code 309], IV-B [Out-of-School 21st Century Community Learning Centers, DESE grant fund codes 645 and 646] grant program(s), and decisions have not yet been made concerning submissions and awards for this upcoming academic year. Accordingly, the Department will not be issuing Grant Award Notifications obligating funds for these programs on July 1 prior to completing that review. The Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.” In a separate correspondence, the U.S. Department of Education also communicated that they are withholding funds for the Integrated English Language and Civics Education programs, and the Adult Education Basic Grants to States program. 

While this leaves us all with a great deal of uncertainty, what seems clear is that these grant programs (MA fund codes 0140, 0180, 0186, 0309, 0645, and 0646) will be, at the very least, delayed this year.  

DESE will continue to communicate to the U.S. Department of Education the importance of these funds, and I will work with state leadership and others across the country to gain access to these funds. Furthermore, we advise that superintendents and executive directors develop a plan for the possibility that their districts and schools may not receive these federal awards in FY26. To this end, and in the coming days, DESE will provide districts with additional resources and guidance to help with their planning. 

We will be in touch with more information as it becomes available. 

Sincerely, 

Pedro Martinez  

Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education 

(Back to me)
The boldface is in the original.

Two notes from me, mostly for the non-practioners¹ among you:

1. On the grants that have come through, he writes "we will now start the work of reviewing the grant award notifications and calculating LEA-level allocations." That's because until the grants come through, that doesn't happen. What that means is that the numbers you've seen for your district for federal grants for next year are estimates, not yet awards.
   This is always true, and districts know what they're doing and make good projections. But I've seen some 'this is the number' kind of things floating around; just please know that we don't know these numbers the same way we know, for example, state Chapter 70 aid.
   
   
2. Pay careful attention to that last paragraph: he both advises that districts "develop a plan for the possibility" that the money won't come through, he also says he "will work with state leadership and others across the country to gain access to these funds."
   Remember that our Attorney General has joined with others across the country to sue for access to funds withdrawn and that has been successful more than once. What has been done here, as has been covered well in the education press, is entirely unconstitutional. Yes, we do still have courts where that matters, and yes, they have actually forced the federal government to act more than once already.

Stay tuned. And don't give up.

_____________________

¹Yes, I'm re-read Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series again ahead of the release of the next one. Here I just mean if you're not in a school business office this week, uploading FY26 to the system and authorizing requisitions, or if you haven't already heard this half a dozen times from those of us who remind you of this as, say, a school committee member.