Governor Jerry Brown appeared with former Deputy mayor Austin Beutner and former commerce secretary Mickey Kantor at the Jefferson Elementary School. During the visit Governor Brown talked about his school days at St. Brendan’s a private parochial school. One of the school stories he told was when his teachers noticed his dirty ears. He was taken to the sink and she thoroughly scrubbed his ears clean. Students asked questions about his early education days that he enthusiastically answered.
The second reason for their visit was to discuss a eyeglass program that Mr. Beutner has developed. There are 250,000 California students that do not have the eyeglasses they need to succeed in school. Without the ability to see clearly they fall behind in their studies. Most of these children are poor or come from minority backgrounds. They do not have access to the programs they need to get prescription eyeglasses.
In 2012 Mr. Beuter started the vision program. He found two eye doctors and a handful of nurses and staff willing to be a part of this program. He next turned a couple of old school buses into eye clinics. The buses then went to Parochial and low income schools in the Los Angeles area. Students were given free eye exams. Students who needed glasses were able to pick out eyeglass frames of their choice. Two weeks later the bus returned to the school and the children received their new glasses.The program will continue and expand and the goal eventually is for every California student to have access to reading glasses.
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