The presence of cursive in the school curriculum across the United States has changed dramatically over the years. Michigan follows a standard established back in 2010 that doesn’t require cursive. But a new bill wants to, if not outright require it, at least highly recommend bringing cursive back to school.
The legislation in question is House Bill 4064. It recommends – but does not demand – the Michigan Department of Education fit cursive handwriting education into school lessons. The department would have to present its plan for this reintroduction, to be used in the 2024 to 2015 school year.
A Michigan bill is getting support from multiple sources to bring cursive lessons back to the classroom
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People of multiple backgrounds are in favor of keeping cursive around in the Michigan school systems. House Bill 4064 is backed by Rep. Brenda Carter, D-Pontiac, who found studies showing that writing in cursive helped students remember lessons better than if they’d taken notes on the computer. She also pointed to the intrinsic value of being able to read and write cursive. Her son wrote a note in cursive when he was nine years old; years later, as a soldier serving in Iraq, he died, but his daughter can read his letter because she understands cursive, Carter shared.
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By time of writing, the National Education Association reports that 21 states require some form of cursive instruction for public schools. In Michigan, numerous Catholic schools require cursive levels for elementary students. Grand Rapids Catholic Schools Assistant Superintendent Sarah Grey argues that teaching kids cursive gets them to slow down, think about what they’re writing, encourages discipline, and has them write beautifully.
The arguments for and against cursive in Michigan and elsewhere
Numbers reflecting the use of print vs. cursive across the country have changed over the years, with the division shrinking, then cursive being eclipsed by print and typing – and not just for typing class. Drew Gilpin Faust recalled in The Atlantic hearing a student admit they couldn’t read cursive; when Faust asked the rest of his class who else could not, two-thirds of the class raised their hands. So, the student was unable to read firsthand documents and letters from the Civil War, even though they were written in the student’s native English.
But, opponents of cursive argue, is that so necessary, with digital transcriptions so widely available? With keyboards, voice-to-text software, audio recording hardware, tablets, and video tutorials increasingly mainstream? Is there a place for cursive in Michigan and the other 49 states, when that time in the curriculum could be filled with something else?
Cursive supports say yes, there definitely is, and it would be to students’ detriment to remove cursive, since it enhances motor skills and promotes critical thinking as students must think in real time how to connect individual letters together in a continuous stream. Cursive itself is one massive, endless, evolving lesson whose nuanced, subtle skill requirements are always helping students, supporters argue. In Michigan, more students may be benefitting from cursive, if Bill 4064 goes through.
