New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced this week that a partnership with Warby Parker will provide eye exams and free eyewear if needed to students in 130 Community Schools that rank consistently as under-performing.

The move is an effort to help reduce the barriers to education that students from low-income families encounter and as a result about 65,000 children will have their vision screened, according to Fox News.

Over the next four years, New York-based Warby Parker is expected to provide 20,000 students with eyewear.

“'Our goal is to provide these students with their first pair of glasses for free so they can experience the immediate and direct positive impact that a pair of glasses can have on their life, especially academics,' said Neil Blumenthal, Warby Parker co-founder and co-chief executive officer," according to Fox News.

Before these efforts, vision screenings were only provided to early learners up until elementary school to identify vision problems in time to correct them. Now, the screenings will be expanded to older students in order to help those who slipped through the cracks.

"The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies poor vision as one of the most prevalent disabling conditions among children," the article said, and New York City could very well represent a change in how districts, particularly those in low-income areas, handle vision screenings.

Read the full story here and comment below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

06/25/2015