Should Michigan Schools Teach Cursive? This Lawmaker Thinks So
It's hard to believe that something that was such a critical and frustrating part of learning to read and write is no longer a part of our curriculum in the state of Michigan.
But, back in 2015 the state of Michigan amongst many others, made the choice to start phasing cursive writing out of our school's curriculum. At the time, many argued that while cursive can be helpful to know, it's not a requirement and pulls away from other lessons that could be taught.
However, a vocal few have kept fighting to bring it back to the classroom, including State Rep. Brenda Carter. She used a personal example when she spoke to the Michigan legislature about it earlier this week.
While speaking about the topic, Representative Carter held up a note from her late son, saying that when he was 9 he wrote the letter in cursive. He shared his hopes and dreams in the later, and it was very special to her. Later and more recently, when he passed away, she was able to that letter to her granddaughter, and his daughter, to enjoy and she could only read it thanks to the fact that she was taught cursive handwriting.
That's why she's now cheerleading House Bill 4064, which encourages Michigan schools to put cursive writing back into their curriculum. As of now, the piece of legislation has 22 cosponsors.
The goal of the bill is to allow and strongly encourage the Department of Education to develop or adopt plans to teach cursive as a type of penmanship into schools, and to make those plans available to schools.
If it were to pass, they say they have programs and ideas in place ready to go for schools who are ready to adapt these lessons plans.
While the bill has not had a vote yet, other representatives have said they are likely to go along with it, as long as it's not a mandate or required. It'll be interesting to see if our students end up learning cursive again, but until then: parents it's still on you to make sure they can read it for now.