Dear County and District Superintendents:

Request for Applications: Antibias Education Grant Program

The California Department of Education (CDE), Educator Excellence and Equity Division (EEED) is pleased to announce that the Request for Applications (RFA) Antibias Education Grant Program is now available.

The Budget Act of 2021 appropriated $10 million to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI) and Section 138 of Assembly Bill 181 of the General Fund added $10 million for a total of $20 million to award a minimum of 100 grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) for the purpose of funding preventing, addressing, and eliminating racism and bias in all California public schools, and making all public schools inclusive and supportive of all people. After an initial application and selection period, the CDE is accepting a second round of applications for the Antibias Education Grant Program. Each award amount for the Antibias Education Grant shall be no less than $75,000 and no more than $200,000.

Eligible activities for an Antibias Education Grant may include, but are not limited to, any of the following:

• Professional development on topics that address hate, bigotry, racism, or any form of bias or prejudice, including, but not limited to, design features of  equitable learning environments, classroom management techniques, emotional wellness and self-regulation, and strategies designed to increase teachers’ skills for mitigating bias, fostering caring developmental relationships, and practices and approaches when managing pupils in academic and disciplinary settings to support deep and engaged learning.
• Opportunities for teachers, administrators, pupils, other school staff, and members of the governing board or body of the LEA to review policies, practices, and procedures that can promote bias, such as referrals for discipline, special education, and course placement, and to update those policies, practices, and procedures to foster in pupils a sense of belonging and connection.
• The development of a comprehensive bias mitigation or diversity plan based on the identified needs of the LEA using its data and tied to specific outcomes, such as increasing staff diversity or more racially proportionate pupil discipline referrals.
• Curriculum that is appropriate for pupils in kindergarten or any of grades one to twelve, inclusive, on topics that address hate, bigotry, racism, or any form of bias or prejudice, promote self-love, self-acceptance, and pride in one’s multiple identities, understanding of one’s own and others’ cultural histories and contributions, and empathy for and meaningful connections with others.
• Support of pupil-initiated and pupil-led efforts to combat hate, bigotry, racism, or any form of bias or prejudice, andto co-design new approaches to mitigate bias and foster a sense of belonging and connection, and to ensure that decisions, actions, and designs are informed by student voice, needs, and aspirations.

All applicants must submit a complete application, including all required components, to the EEED by 4 p.m. on July 20, 2023. Incomplete, late, or incorrectly formatted applications will not be scored or considered for approval.

A technical assistance webinar to review all parts of the RFA will take place on Monday, June 12, 2023, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. (registration for this webinar is now closed).

For additional information and a link to the application, please visit the CDE Antibias Education Grant Program web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/pl/antibiasgrant.asp.

If you have questions regarding this RFA, please contact the Antibias Education Grant Team at antibiasgrants@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Cotton, Deputy Superintendent

Instruction, Measurement, and Administration Branch

CC:mm