Los Angeles – – October 05, 2026 -- Vision To Learn has provided 300,000 children in California with free glasses, a milestone marked today at 24th Street Elementary School alongside the launch of a new initiative to outfit every child in Los Angeles Unified's Community Schools.

Nonprofit marks 300,000-glasses milestone with LA Unified officials

Founder Austin Beutner, California Teachers Association President David Goldberg, and LA Unified Superintendent Andrés E. Chait joined the event. Vision To Learn operates mobile vision clinics staffed by licensed eye care professionals, delivering screenings, exams and glasses directly at schools in low-income communities at no cost to families.

Research links free glasses to measurable academic gains

A study published in JAMA Ophthalmology, conducted by researchers from the Center for Research and Reform in Education and the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University, found children receiving Vision To Learn glasses gained the equivalent of two to four months of additional learning. Children in the bottom academic quarter and those with learning differences or disabilities saw gains up to six months.

New effort targets every child in LA Unified's Community Schools

The milestone event also launched a program to ensure universal glasses coverage across LA Unified's Community Schools network. United Teachers Los Angeles Elementary Vice President Maria Miranda and 24th Street Elementary Principal David Owens participated, with guests touring a mobile vision clinic following the program.

Organization has reached 4 million children across 19 states

Vision To Learn, founded in 2012 by Beutner and the Beutner Family Foundation, has provided vision screenings to more than 4 million children, eye exams to 810,000, and glasses to 690,000 nationally across 19 states and the District of Columbia. About 90% of children served live in poverty, and approximately 85% are Black or Latino.