As Massachusetts classrooms fill up for the 2026-27 school year, English Learners across the Commonwealth are navigating a moment defined by both real strain and real momentum. At The MEL Community Foundation, our mission has always been to raise academic achievement and post-secondary attainment for English Learners in Massachusetts public schools. This year, that mission feels more urgent than ever.
The Challenges
Enrollment declines driven by fear. Statewide public school enrollment dropped by roughly 14,600 students between October 2024 and October 2025, and English Learners accounted for nearly half of that decline. Researchers at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center point to sustained federal immigration enforcement as a major driver, noting that students who are learning English — or perceived not to be fully proficient — are being discouraged from attending school altogether. Gateway Cities like Chelsea, Revere, and Everett, communities where our grantee partners do so much of their work, have seen some of the steepest drops.
This isn’t just a statistic. Every student missing from a classroom is a student who has lost access to instruction, mentorship, and the college and career pathways our Foundation exists to support. And because Massachusetts ties school funding to enrollment through the Chapter 70 formula, and English Learners generate additional aid to cover the cost of language support, these losses hit already under-resourced districts with the most students in need hardest of all.
A federal-state divide on EL rights. Over the past year, the federal government has moved to roll back guidance that required schools to properly identify and serve English Learners, provide trained interpreters for families, and protect multilingual students from inequitable discipline. Massachusetts lawmakers responded by codifying many of those protections into state law. That’s good news for the Commonwealth’s English Learners, but it also means districts are absorbing new compliance responsibilities at exactly the moment their EL enrollment — and the funding that follows it — is shrinking.
A statewide shift in literacy instruction. Massachusetts is in the process of requiring school districts to adopt state-approved, evidence-based literacy curricula, with many lawmakers hoping the change takes effect by the 2026-27 school year. For English Learners, who already score “warning/failing” on the MCAS at rates between 50 and 84 percent, a well-implemented, phonics-based curriculum could be transformative. A rushed or poorly resourced rollout could just as easily widen the gap.
The Opportunities
State investment in language access. Even as federal support for English Learner services contracts, Massachusetts has been leaning in. The Commonwealth recently announced a $10 million investment in workforce training aimed at expanding services to thousands of additional English learners, an explicit response to reduced federal support for adult education. That kind of state-level commitment creates real openings for foundations like ours to align our grantmaking with public investment rather than working against the current.
Dual language and multilingual programming is expanding. Our recent partnership with the Everett Public Schools Multilingual Department, supporting the district’s elementary Dual Language program, is a good example of what’s possible. Programs like this treat multilingualism as an asset rather than a deficit, and they’re gaining ground in districts that serve large EL populations.
A growing track record to build on. Over the past three years, The MEL Community Foundation has awarded eleven grants totaling $126,000 to organizations including the Boston Debate League (Debate en Español), Minds Matter, and Waltham Public Schools. Each of these partnerships strengthens the pipeline from K-12 literacy support, through mentorship and tutoring, to college access and post-secondary attainment. As we head into 2026-27, we’re focused on deepening these relationships and identifying new partners in the communities experiencing the sharpest enrollment losses, where support is needed most.
Family-centered support. Our Board has also been thinking beyond the student to the whole family, supporting English classes for parents alongside academic programming for their children. When a family navigates language acquisition together, students are more likely to stay engaged in school and more likely to see a path toward college as attainable.
The MEL Community Foundation will keep doing what we’ve always done: funding literacy, mentorship, tutoring, and academic programs that meet English Learners and their families where they are. If 2026-27 is a year of disruption for Massachusetts’ English Learner community, we intend for it to also be a year where the right partnerships help students land on solid ground.
Interested in partnering with or supporting The MEL Community Foundation’s work ? Reach out to learn more about our grant programs and how you can get involved.