Move over printing and texting. Pennsylvania is going old school by requiring public schools to teach cursive writing.
Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a bill Wednesday that will require a cursive handwriting curriculum in all public schools in the Commonwealth, PennLive reported.
“I just signed — in my best cursive — a bipartisan bill requiring cursive handwriting to be taught in all Pennsylvania public schools,” Shapiro posted on Facebook.
“I’m definitely rusty, but I think my penmanship was okay!” he added.
The bipartisan legislation, was sponsored by Rep. Dane Watro (R-Luzerne and Schuylkill). There was support from 15 other Republicans and three Democrats.
Watro said research shows learning cursive “activates areas of the brain involved in executive function, fine motor skills, and working memory.”
He added skipping over cursive curriculum “robs students of the chance to master this age-appropriate challenge.”
Watro said the Nevada Secretary of State had issues with mail-in ballots from young voters without “developed signatures.”
Learning cursive also allows students to read historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
However, not all are on board with the change.
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.
“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,” Rep. Joe Adams (R-Wayne and Pike) said.
Adams also said a person’s signature could act as a unique identifier that artificial intelligence has a hard time reproducing.
In all, 24 other states have laws that require cursive to be taught in public schools. Only 14 required it a decade ago.
