State lawmakers order schools to teach cursive

LITTLE ROCK -- All that's needed to return cursive writing classes to Arkansas classrooms is a signature by Gov. Asa Hutchinson -- and if he signs it, it will probably be in cursive.

The state Senate on Thursday gave final legislative approval to a bill requiring public schools to teach cursive to students by the end of the third grade. Several districts had dropped handwriting courses after the state adopted tougher standards for mathematics and English.

"What this bill does is puts it back and requires what we used to have," state Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Gravette.

The measure passed on a 30-1 vote. No one spoke to oppose the bill, but Sen. Bruce Maloch, D-Magnolia, said afterward it wasn't the Legislature's job to interfere with schools.

"I'm in favor of kids knowing how to do cursive writing," Maloch said. "I just think it's something that ought to be done at the Department of Education or the local level."

A number of districts dropped handwriting instructions after Arkansas adopted Common Core standards for math and English that are intended to ensure high school graduates are ready for college.

Teachers have said some districts opted to drop cursive to concentrate on other parts of their curricula. Researchers have also suggested in recent years that keyboarding skills are more important for today's students.

During last year's gubernatorial campaign, Hutchinson and his opponent, Democratic candidate Mike Ross, each tried to dispel myths that Common Core had required schools to change course options.

"It does not do away with cursive writing. It does not do away with memorizing multiplication tables," Ross said at an educators' conference last September. Hutchinson said at the same meeting that he supports instruction in cursive writing and multiplication -- but that any changes to state standards could not make them weaker.

Hutchinson, who has signed previous bills into law in cursive, has appointed Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin to head a panel to assess whether Common Core guidelines are proper for the state.

State Desk on 02/20/2015

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