INDIANA – Elementary schools in Indiana, both public and private, have until October to inform the Department of Education whether their school teaches cursive writing to students and in what grade they teach it.
In 2011, Indiana stopped requiring elementary school students to learn cursive writing. Senate Bill 72 would require the Department of Education to take stock of how many Hoosier students are still learning cursive writing.
The State Department of Education dropped cursive as a requirement in 2010 and instead wanted students to learn how to type. It became optional for schools in Indiana to teach cursive writing. Officials said with laptops and tablets replacing paper, the need to learn to keyboard was more important.
Republican Senator Jean Leising, an author of the bill, has filed legislation for 13 years to make it a required curriculum for Hoosier students to learn.
“We now have kids graduating from college that can’t even read cursive writing,” said Senator Leising said. “They don’t have a signature. I’m not sure what they’re going to do when they become legislators, because we still must sign our name for real quite often.”
Signatures are traditionally written in cursive, but they don’t legally have to be. You can have a more simply written signature or print your name in capital letters.
“As a person who taught this in third grade, I can’t tell you how important it is that we bring back cursive writing. Even though there’s an argument that kids are using laptops, it doesn’t make up for the signing of important documents and being able to read grandma’s handwriting when she writes you a note at Christmas or on your birthday,” said Rep. Sheila Klinker, D-District 27 one of the sponsors of the bill.
