Massachusetts Department Of Elementary & Secondary Education

Massachusetts Department Of Elementary & Secondary Education, a U.S. state government entity and direct child of The Commonwealth Of Massachusetts, acts as a prime recipient of federal formula grants and contracts supporting K-12 public education, special education, child nutrition, English language acquisition, and related educational services across Massachusetts. DESE does not hold parent federal contract vehicles and competes predominantly under full-and-open federal grant programs; no set-aside categories apply to its federal funding posture.

DESE's federal footprint centers on education and nutrition administration. The agency receives and administers formula grants flowing through to local educational agencies, school districts, charter schools, and community-based organizations statewide. Recent representative awards include a $2.735 million firm-fixed-price contract (April 2025 through March 2035) from the Institute of Education Sciences to serve as National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) State Coordinator for Massachusetts, managing state participation in NAEP and the NCES State Partnership System; a $123.4 million Title I Part A Basic Grants to LEAs formula grant (July 2026) from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education funding improved teaching and learning in high-poverty schools; a $116.3 million Special Education Grants to States formula grant (July 2026) from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services supporting excess-cost special education and related services for children with disabilities ages 3-21; and a $315.5 million National School Lunch Program formula grant (October 2025) from the Food and Nutrition Service enabling nutritious school meals for eligible children statewide.

Customer concentration is extremely high and reflects DESE's role as a state educational agency. The top five funding agencies by award count account for 84% of recent awards: the Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education leads with 249 awards, followed by the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service with 131 awards in one category and 97 in another, the Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services with 49 awards, and the Department of Education Office of Career Technical and Adult Education with 41 awards. By combined potential value, concentration is similar: the Institute of Education Sciences anchors $5.6 million across ten awards, with remaining value distributed across elementary and secondary education, special education, career-technical education, and food-nutrition programs. DESE operates as a 100% prime recipient; fewer than 1% of awards involve sub-recipient relationships.

DESE's grant portfolio spans 674 total awards across a twenty-year history, with annual activity averaging 29-36 awards per year over the past five years. The most recent award cycle (2026, year-to-date through July) shows 15 awards, tracking toward lower volume but consistent with historical patterns. Awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months total 23, representing recompete exposure on ongoing grant programs; most DESE grants renew annually or on multi-year cycles, with July 1 as the typical fiscal award anniversary across education and agriculture programs.

DESE's substantive federal role involves managing and distributing hundreds of millions in annual formula funding across multiple federal grant programs. The agency passes through the majority of federal allocations to LEAs, nonprofits, and community organizations as sub-awards after setting aside funds for state-level administration and activities. Representative programs include the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Special Education Grants to States, English Language Acquisition Grants, Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers, Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants, Title I Part A, Career and Technical Education, Migrant Education, and programs serving homeless children, neglected and delinquent youth, and low-income families. DESE also participates in cooperative agreements and project grants focused on literacy development, school-based surveillance of youth risk behaviors, farm-to-school initiatives, and child nutrition technology innovation.