Allotment of funds

The Secretary shall reserve for each fiscal year such sums as are necessary— The Secretary shall reserve for each fiscal year an amount that is not less than 2.5 percent and not more than 3 percent of the sums appropriated pursuant to section 9834 of this title for that fiscal year, to fund training and technical assistance activities, from which reserved amount— the Secretary shall set aside a portion, equal to the rest of the reserved amount, to fund training and technical assistance activities for other Head Start programs, in accordance with section 9843 of this title, of which portion— From any amount remaining for a fiscal year after the Secretary carries out paragraph (2) (referred to in this paragraph as the “remaining amount”), the Secretary shall— subject to clause (ii)— subject to clause (iii), if the remaining amount is not sufficient to carry out clause (i)— for each of fiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010— for fiscal year 2011 and each subsequent fiscal year— For purposes of subclause (I)— Except as provided in subparagraph (B), from any amount remaining for a fiscal year after the Secretary carries out paragraphs (2) and (3) (referred to in this paragraph as the “balance”), the Secretary shall— Under the circumstances described in clause (ii), from the balance, the Secretary shall— The Secretary shall make the reservations described in clause (i) for a fiscal year if— The Secretary shall fund the quality improvement activities described in paragraph (5) using the amount reserved under subparagraph (A)(i) or subparagraph (B)(i)(I), as appropriate, of which— The Secretary shall fund expansion of Head Start programs (including Early Head Start programs) using the amount reserved under subparagraph (A)(ii) or subparagraph (B)(i)(II), as appropriate, of which the Secretary shall— from the remainder of the reserved amount— use 50 percent for Head Start programs funded under paragraph (2)(B)(i) (other than Early Head Start programs), of which— In this paragraph, the term “covered percentage” means— Not less than 50 percent of the amount reserved under subparagraph (A)(i) or subparagraph (B)(i)(I), as appropriate, of paragraph (4) to carry out quality improvement activities under paragraph (4)(C) and this paragraph shall be used to improve the compensation (including benefits) of educational personnel, family service workers, and child counselors, as described in sections 9839(a) and 9848 of this title, in the manner determined by the Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) involved, to— provide education and professional development to enable teachers to be fully competent to meet the professional standards established under section 9843a(a)(1) of this title, including— Any remaining funds from the reserved amount described in subparagraph (A) shall be used to carry out any of the following activities: Increasing hours of program operation, including— In this subsection: Financial assistance extended under this subchapter for a Head Start program shall not exceed 80 percent of the approved costs of the assisted program or activities, except that the Secretary may approve assistance in excess of such percentage if the Secretary determines that such action is required in furtherance of the purposes of this subchapter. For the purpose of making such determination, the Secretary shall take into consideration with respect to the Head Start program involved— No programs shall be approved for assistance under this subchapter unless the Secretary is satisfied that the services to be provided under such program will be in addition to, and not in substitution for, comparable services previously provided without Federal assistance. The requirement imposed by the preceding sentence shall be subject to such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe. The Secretary shall adopt appropriate administrative measures to assure that the benefits of this subchapter will be distributed equitably between residents of rural and urban areas. In establishing the procedures the Secretary shall establish procedures to provide for— For the purpose of expanding Head Start programs 11 So in original. Probably should be followed by a comma. the Secretary shall take into consideration— the extent to which the applicant has undertaken a communitywide strategic planning and needs assessment involving other entities, including community organizations, and Federal, State, and local public agencies (including the local educational agency liaison designated under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii))), that provide services to children and families, such as— Financial assistance provided under this subchapter may be used by each Head Start program to provide full-working-day Head Start services to any eligible child throughout the full calendar year. The Secretary shall issue regulations establishing requirements for the safety features, and the safe operation, of vehicles used by Head Start agencies to transport children participating in Head Start programs. The regulations shall also establish requirements to ensure the appropriate supervision of, and appropriate background checks for, individuals with whom the agencies contract to transport those children. Any agency that receives financial assistance under this subchapter to improve the compensation of staff who provide services under this subchapter 22 See References in Text note below. shall use the financial assistance to improve the compensation of such staff, regardless of whether the agency has the ability to improve the compensation of staff employed by the agency who do not provide Head Start services. The Secretary shall allow center-based Head Start programs the flexibility to satisfy the total number of hours of service required by the regulations in effect on May 18, 1994, to be provided to children in Head Start programs so long as such agencies do not— In carrying out this subchapter, the Secretary shall continue the administrative arrangement at the national level for meeting the needs of Indian children and children of migrant and seasonal farmworker families and shall ensure— The Secretary shall issue rules to establish policies and procedures to remove barriers to the enrollment and participation of homeless children in Head Start programs. Such rules shall require Head Start agencies— Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to require a State to establish a publicly funded program of early childhood education and development, or to require any child to participate in such a publicly funded program, including a State-funded preschool program, or to participate in any initial screening before participating in a publicly funded program of early childhood education and development, except as provided under sections 612(a)(3) and 635(a)(5) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(3), 1435(a)(5)). All curricula funded under this subchapter shall be based on scientifically valid research, and be age and developmentally appropriate. The curricula shall reflect all areas of child development and learning and be aligned with the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework. Parents shall have the opportunity to examine any such curricula or instructional materials funded under this subchapter.