118 STAT. 2780 PUBLIC LAW 108–446—DEC. 3, 2004 State law or regulation for serving children with disabilities or serving infants and toddlers with disabilities. ‘‘(f) SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS.— ‘‘(1) IMPACT OF PROJECT.—In selecting eligible entities for assistance under this section, the Secretary shall consider the impact of the proposed project described in the application in meeting the need for personnel identified by the States. ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT FOR ELIGIBLE ENTITIES TO MEET STATE AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS.—The Secretary shall make grants and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements under this section only to eligible entities that meet State and professionally recognized qualifications for the preparation of special education and related services personnel, if the pur pose of the project is to assist personnel in obtaining degrees. ‘‘(3) PREFERENCES.—In selecting eligible entities for assist ance under this section, the Secretary may give preference to eligible entities that are institutions of higher education that are— ‘‘(A) educating regular education personnel to meet the needs of children with disabilities in integrated set tings; ‘‘(B) educating special education personnel to work in collaboration with regular educators in integrated settings; and ‘‘(C) successfully recruiting and preparing individuals with disabilities and individuals from groups that are underrepresented in the profession for which the institution of higher education is preparing individuals. ‘‘(g) SCHOLARSHIPS.—The Secretary may include funds for schol arships, with necessary stipends and allowances, in awards under subsections (b), (c), and (d). ‘‘(h) SERVICE OBLIGATION.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each application for assistance under subsections (b), (c), and (d) shall include an assurance that the eligible entity will ensure that individuals who receive a scholarship under the proposed project agree to subsequently provide special education and related services to children with disabilities, or in the case of leadership personnel to subse quently work in the appropriate field, for a period of 2 years for every year for which the scholarship was received or repay all or part of the amount of the scholarship, in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary. ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Secretary may reduce or waive the service obligation require ment under paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines that the service obligation is acting as a deterrent to the recruitment of students into special education or a related field. ‘‘(3) SECRETARY’S RESPONSIBILITY.—The Secretary— ‘‘(A) shall ensure that individuals described in para graph (1) comply with the requirements of that paragraph; and ‘‘(B) may use not more than 0.5 percent of the funds appropriated under subsection (i) for each fiscal year, to carry out subparagraph (A), in addition to any other funds that are available for that purpose. Grants. Contracts.
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