Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday signed a bill that will require a cursive handwriting curriculum in all Pennsylvania public schools.
“I’m definitely rusty, but I think my penmanship was OK!” Shapiro said in his Wednesday announcement.
The bipartisan legislation, House Bill 17, was sponsored by Rep. Dane Watro (R-Luzerne and Schuylkill) with support from 15 other Republicans and three Democrats.
Watro cited research that shows learning cursive “activates areas of the brain involved in executive function, fine motor skills, and working memory.” He also said skipping over cursive curriculum “robs students of the chance to master this age-appropriate challenge.”
In the bill, Watro noted the Nevada Secretary of State had many issues with mail-in ballots from young voters without “developed signatures.”
The bill went on to say that learning to read and write cursive will help young generations as they read historical documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
Related
• Cursive handwriting makes a comeback in elementary schoolsHowever, Pennsylvania’s former Education Secretary Khalid Mumin said cursive instruction is not vital for public classrooms.
“Secretary Mumin encourages schools to determine the best paths for their students to learn to communicate effectively in writing and achieve success, regardless of the mode of writing used to get there,” said education department spokesman Taj Magruder.
A similar bill was proposed by Rep. Joe Adams(R-Wayne and Pike) during the 2024-25 legislative session.
“You can’t open a bank account without signing your name. You can’t buy a property or get a credit card without having to be able to sign your name,” Adams said.
Adams also noted a person’s signature could act as a unique identifier that artificial intelligence struggles to reproduce.
In total, 24 other states have laws that require cursive to be taught in public schools, nearly twice as many — 14 — as there were a decade ago.
