Initiative Seeks Eye Exams for Public School Students

The Joint Finance Committee has approved the Children's Vision Initiative which will require all public kindergarten students to have eye exams, starting with the 2002-03 school year.

No penalty could be imposed if parents refused to provide evidence of the exam.

The initiative will now seek approval by the Senate.

Under the provision, physicians, optometrists or ophthalmologists could voluntarily provide free tests for children who do not have health insurance that covers the exams.

The Wisconsin Optometic Association has committed $1 million in free services over 10 years for students who cannot pay for the exams. The state will be asked to contribute $144,000 toward the plan, which now goes to the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee.

WEAC is supporting the initiative, which was spearheaded by Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen.

"So many children face an unnecessary uphill battle as they begin their education," State Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen said at a news confererence May 17 promoting the initiative. "The Children's Vision Initiative will make a positive difference in the classroom by helping students and parents identify and correct vision impairments."

Jensen noted that vision problems are especially troublesome to young children who are learning to read.

The American Optometric Association estimates that 80 percent of all learning during a child's first 12 years of life is obtained through vision.

Most children receive a vision screening as they enter school. The screening measures a child's ability to view a chart from 20 feet away, but does not detect problems with near-sight focusing, which is essential for reading.

Some estimates report that 10 million elementary school-aged children have vision impairments that hinder their abilities in the classroom. Parents and educators often confuse vision problems with learning disabilities and social anxieties.

Posted May 21, 2001; Updated June 6, 2001