For the current year, funding for the vision and hearing screening for children was cut from $5.15 million to about $2.58 million in the Department of Community Health budget. Gov. Granholm, who proposed eliminating the program last year, has budgeted for full restoration this time, but she's wrong to tap the School Aid Fund for it. At least half the support should continue to come from the Department of Community Health.

The School Aid Fund, which is fed mainly by the sales tax, has fared much better than the state's general fund over the last five years. Shifting dollars away from the school fund's intended operational purposes to subsidize other budgets is a bad precedent, but $2.58 million to share the expense of the vision and hearing testing of children is reasonable for now.

Last year's budget cut means fewer children receive vision and hearing tests. Health departments now conduct hearing tests in preschool and kindergarten and vision tests in preschool and first and third grades. If fully funded, vision tests would also include grades 5, 7 and 9 and hearing second and fourth grades.

For fiscal year 2004-05, the state screened 771,104 children for vision and made 68,866 re-

ferrals for medical follow-up such as glasses. Some 534,009 children got hearing screenings with 24,389 referrals. Kent County tested 85,753 and made 1,028 hearing referrals and 4,431 for vision.

A child's academic and social development could suffer if hearing and eye problems are not detected. For example, myopia is a problem in which it is difficult to focus on objects at a distance such as the classroom chalkboard. Hearing loss can interfere with speech

development. Some problems can only be diagnosed through an examination. In urban districts children are more likely to be uninsured and need the free screenings.

The fiscal year 2007 school aid budget totals $13.1 billion, up $362 million from the current year. While $2.58 million is modest for screenings, shifting costs from the general fund to the School Aid Fund can easily become a habit, draining away dollars for school operations. The governor is recommending several other programs be funded that way, too.

The question with vision and hearing testing primarily is whether to pay for them. The answer is yes. Full funding should be restored. But the School Aid Fund shouldn't be tapped for the full cost of a service previously supported

by the state health budget. If there is to be a division now, lawmakers should make it an even split. And make it temporary. A health service, when funds allow, should go back to the health budget.

By The Grand Rapids Press
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