Georgia Rep. Kim Schofield is preparing to file the Georgia Student Vision and Literacy Readiness Act, a bill that would require school vision screenings beyond kindergarten, checking students in grades one, three, five, seven, and 10. It would also create a Georgia Vision Access Fund to pay for eye exams and glasses for students who are uninsured or underinsured. The push comes as childhood myopia climbs, with a 2024 British Journal of Ophthalmology study putting global rates at 36% by 2023. The Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation reports that 36% of students it screened in the 2024-2025 school year showed signs of vision impairment, and roughly 70% of Georgia fourth graders cannot read proficiently.
Advocates say the connection is simple: kids who can’t see the board get mislabeled as behavior problems or slow learners. In 52 mostly rural Georgia counties, few or no optometrists practice nearby, and the state’s uninsured rate sits at 13.7%, so a failed screening often leads nowhere. The new fund is designed to close that gap. Eight-year-old second grader Jason Barcus is one of the students who got glasses through a similar program, and his story is the kind lawmakers point to when they argue that vision care is reading policy.
Here on the Suncoast, the same questions apply. Screen time keeps rising, eye doctors say nearsightedness in kids keeps climbing, and families in Sarasota, Manatee, and Charlotte counties juggle the same appointments and insurance questions as anyone else. So we want to hear from you: should Florida require regular vision screenings in schools, or is a kindergarten check enough?
