1. The Legislature finds and declares that: approximately one-half of all New Jersey students with a special education classification are classified as Specific Learning Disabled (SLD); the rate of growth in SLD classified students in recent years has been 9%, while total school enrollment has grown at only 2%; nationwide, approximately 80% of SLD students have primary difficulties with reading, and as many as 70% of those students might not have been classified if they had received appropriate early intervention; undiagnosed and untreated vision-related learning problems are significant contributors to early reading difficulties and often lead to special education classification; under current State Board of Education regulations, only one vision assessment is required by the end of grade three and that screening tests only for vision acuity; the number of children classified as requiring special education continues to increase, and once classified few students return to full-time general education; it is therefore imperative that the State takes steps to study the impact of comprehensive eye examinations for students in the primary grades to assess their impact on eliminating the special education classification of students for treatable vision-related difficulties.

L.2007,c.122,c.1.