North Carolina School Boards Association challenges new law requiring eye tests before children enter kindergarten
The North Carolina School Boards Association (NCSBA) and 11 local school boards have filed suit against the state challenging a new law, effective this fall, to require children to have comprehensive eye tests before starting kindergarten. More than 119,000 children are expected to enroll in the kindergarten classes this year. The suit alleges that the cost of the exams ranges from $65 to $120. Attorney Ann L. Majestic, who represents NCSBA, characterizes the mandatory exam as a "charge for admission to kindergarten" and wants to know "who's going to pay." Pediatricians, school boards, and advocates for children and the poor oppose the law on the grounds that it imposes an unnecessary financial burden on parents. However, optometrists support the law, contending exams will detect vision problems that contribute to poor classroom performance. Although Medicaid will pay for some families' exams and the state legislature has set up a $2 million fund to help other parents, the lawsuit contends that thousands of families do not have private health insurance or access to public assistance that covers eye exams. The law requires children to have an eye exam performed by a North Carolina licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist within six months of starting school. Children who have not been tested will be barred from school. State legislator Jim Black, an optometrist who authored the mandatory testing law, has responded to criticism of the law by pledging support for changes in the law that would make it easier for parents to comply. Mr. Black says he is willing to waive the requirement that eye doctors with North Carolina licenses do the exams and to give children more time to get them. "The legislature has made it clear that they will fix the program when they return in May," says Sherri Johnson, a spokeswoman for Governor Mike Easley. Medical societies representing pediatricians and ophthalmologists insist comprehensive eye exams for all preschoolers are unnecessary and that free screenings and tests done as part of regular check-ups catch most children's vision problems. Hal Herring, president of the North Carolina State Optometric Society, counters that "[t]he studies prove the system in place does not do a comprehensive job of catching all those who need vision care."
Raleigh News & ObserverBy Lynn Bonner
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Editor's Note: NCSBA's legal complaint in the suit and its information page on the controversy are linked below.]
[Plaintiffs' complaint][NCSBA information page on eye program and suit]