Vision To Learn Celebrates Providing 300,000 Children in California with Glasses

Vision To Learn Founder Austin Beutner, California Teachers Association President David Goldberg, and Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Andrés E. Chait mark the milestone at 24th Street Elementary School

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Vision To Learn is celebrating a major milestone this fall: it has provided 300,000 children in California with the glasses they need to succeed in school and in life. Vision To Learn Founder Austin Beutner, California Teachers Association (CTA) President David Goldberg, and Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Andrés E. Chait marked the occasion today at 24th Street Elementary School.

The celebration also marks the launch of a new effort to ensure every child in LA Unified's Community Schools is provided with the glasses they need.

"More than 4 million children across the country go to school every day without the glasses they need," said Beutner. "When children go to school hungry, we feed them. We make sure they have the books and school supplies they need. Why not glasses?  Every child in every school, everywhere in the country, should have the glasses they need to succeed in school and in life."

"Teachers see it every day: a child who can see the board clearly can keep up," said Goldberg, President of the California Teachers Association. "Helping 300,000 children in California shows what's possible when we meet students' basic needs right where they are — at their local neighborhood school. That's exactly what Community Schools are about, and Vision To Learn is a model we want to see grow across California."

"Supporting our students means supporting the whole child," said Superintendent Chait. "When community partners help provide something as essential as a pair of glasses, a medical exam or a vaccination, they are removing barriers that can stand between a child and their ability to learn and thrive. We are grateful for partners like Vision To Learn who help make sure every child has what they need to succeed in the schoolhouse and beyond."

Vision To Learn brings eye care directly to children at schools in low-income communities. Mobile vision clinics, staffed with trained and licensed eye care professionals, help reach children who would otherwise go without the glasses they need.

Independent research confirms the impact. A study published in JAMA Ophthalmology, by researchers from the Center for Research and Reform in Education and the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University, found that children who received glasses from Vision To Learn gained the equivalent of two to four months of additional learning — with the largest gains, up to six months, among children in the bottom quarter of their class academically and children with learning differences and disabilities.

United Teachers Los Angeles Elementary Vice President Maria Miranda, 24th Street Elementary Principal David Owens, students and staff joined in today's celebration. Following the program, guests toured a Vision To Learn mobile vision clinic.

"As a Community School rep, I've seen firsthand the difference Vision To Learn's efforts make for kids," said Miranda. "UTLA is proud to work with Vision To Learn to help ensure all kids in LAUSD are provided with the glasses they need."

"Three hundred thousand is more than a number — it's 300,000 lives that have been changed, children who can see the board more clearly, read a book and take part in class," said Beutner. "Working alongside teachers in Community Schools, we can ensure every child in every school has the glasses they need."

About Vision To Learn

Vision To Learn, a nonprofit, was founded in 2012 by Austin Beutner and the Beutner Family Foundation. Vision To Learn serves the needs of the hardest-to-reach children; about 90% of kids served by Vision To Learn live in poverty and about 85% are Black or Latino. Vision To Learn, the largest provider of eye care at schools in the country, has helped provide more than 4 million children with vision screenings, 810,000 with eye exams, and 690,000 with glasses in 19 states and the District of Columbia, all at no cost to the children or their families. For more information on Vision To Learn, please visit www.visiontolearn.org.

Contact:

Allen Goldberg
Vision To Learn
[email protected]
202.368.4670

SOURCE Vision To Learn