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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

NC bill attempts to put cursive back in the classroom

When North Carolina signed on to meet a set of national education standards, it stopped requiring cursive writing in the classroom. Instead, the standards focus on encouraging digital proficiency. But a bill moving through the state house could bring cursive back into public schools.

North Carolina began implementing the Common Core State Standards this school year, which places a larger emphasis on digital learning. And like many other states that adopted these standards, State Representative Pat Hurley sponsored legislation to require cursive writing instruction between kindergarten and fifth grade. She disagrees with those who say bringing it back to the classroom is a waste of time.

“They’ve got six years to teach it. I’ve given until the fifth grade, and I think there are sometime in those hours, all those years to surely give the children the knowledge and that basic understanding of cursive. I’ve heard from not only teachers but also from principals and administrators. They think it’s a wonderful idea.”

Right now the bill’s being reviewed by the House Committee on Education, and Representative Hurley says a companion bill may be drafted soon in the Senate. Most recently, Indiana, Utah, California, and Massachusetts have proposed legislation requiring cursive writing.