Thousands Of Baltimore Students May Lack Vision Care

The Baltimore Sun reports that in Maryland, thousands of Baltimore students may have eyesight problems that go undetected and uncorrected because of inadequate funding in the city's school-based health system -- a problem that leaves many of them at a disadvantage in the classroom, according to a report released Monday by the Abell Foundation.

The report found that many students are falling through the cracks of the city's school-based vision-screening program, a problem exacerbated by the school system's truancy challenges and its urban population. In particular, the report focused its criticism on the number of vision screeners at the Health Department. Nine screeners are responsible for students at 140 city schools, in addition to 1,600 private-school students, the study found.

We are fortunate that Charlotte Mecklenburg School Health has a very good vision screening program. I was fortunate to participate in the training of health service staff and nurses in screening for visual disorders.

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