Florida Lawmakers Push for More Cursive Writing— Why And at What Cost?

In January, President Trump signed an Executive Order requiring that whenever an agency promulgates a new rule, regulation, or guidance, it must identify at least 10 existing rules, regulations, or guidance documents to be repealed.  Florida’s legislators, at least when it comes to Florida’s K-12 Education Code, appear to be attempting the exact opposite.

Rep. Overdorf (HB 921) and Sen. Grall (SB 1394) have introduced identical bills that seek to amend Florida Statute 1003.42 by adding cursive writing to the list of required instruction. Rep. Overdorf’s HB921 is on the agenda to be heard in the House Student Academic Success Subcommittee on Tuesday. This blog is an appeal to lawmakers to NOT pass these bills for 3 reasons:

• Cursive writing skills are already part of the Florida standards making these bills unneccessary.
• Florida’s state assessments require students to be proficient in typing in 4th grade, limiting time to practice handwriting skills.
• Adding cursive writing skills to f.s. 1008.42, will add additional regulatory burdens on already overregulated public schools.

Bill Text Summary for HB921 and SB1394:

Paragraph (w) is added to subsection (2) of section 1003.42, Florida Statutes, to read:

For students in grades 2 through 5, the study of cursive writing and the development of the skills necessary for legible cursive writing, including:

• Letter formation.
• Proper spacing and alignment.
• Practice in writing complete words and sentences in cursive.

By the end of grade 5, each student must demonstrate proficiency in cursive writing through an evaluation of written work. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term “proficiency in cursive writing” means all of the following:

• The ability to write uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet in cursive writing.
• Writing words and sentences in cursive legibly and maintaining proper spacing and alignment.
• The ability to read and apply cursive writing in a manner that supports literacy development, including writing essays and assignments in cursive writing in accordance with state academic standards.

Cursive writing skills are already part of the Florida standards making these bills unneccessary.

For the record, both of my children were taught cursive writing in their public schools in 3rd or 4th grade so I suspect other public school student ARE being taught to write in cursive as well. My kids, now in college, used their cursive to create signatures that they almost never need to sign. Checkbook? Who has a checkbook when you have Zelle or Venmo? They communicate by text and email, their course work is submitted in google docs, and, occasionally, they call their mother.

Florida standards ALREADY require the development of cursive writing skills in grades 3 through 5. From CPalms:

CPalms is the State of Florida’s official source for standards information and course descriptions.

Florida’s state assessments require students to be proficient in typing in 4th grade, limiting time to practice handwriting skills.

Advocates for cursive instruction say it helps develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. They complain students are not able to read significant historical documents in their original form and cursive can aid individuals with dyslexia by reducing letter reversals and aiding in word recognition. Others suggest, in today’s digital age, the necessity of cursive writing has diminished, leading some to question its practicality. I don’t want to argue the merits of cursive instruction but I do believe lawmakers should consider some of the reasons students may not be mastering the cursive handwriting taught in Florida’s classroom.

If Florida’s lawmakers want to know why Florida’s students are not proficient in cursive, they might want to take a good, hard look in the mirror. The root problem may not be the absence of cursive instruction but rather the pressures of Florida’s test-based accountability system. Elementary schools, focused on standardized test performance, often prioritize tested subjects over other valuable skills—just as recess had to be legislated back into the school day.

Gov. DeSantis’ announcement, in 2021, a transition to new B.E.S.T. standards with state mandated progress monitoring assessments (F.A.S.T.), meant an end to paper-pencil assessments in grades 3-6 and the addition of computer based assessments in VPK through grade 2. Now, Florida’s state assessments require students, from a very young age, to master computer skills. In addition, from 4th to 10th grade, Florida’s students are required to type essays for state writing assessments (which I believe are a VERY EXPENSIVE waste of time). Success on the writing assessments, however, depends not only on composition skills but also on typing proficiency. If schools must prioritize typing for state assessments, it’s no surprise practice with cursive is sidelined.

Adding cursive writing skills to f.S. 1008.42, will add additional regulatory burdens on already overregulated public schools.

F.s. 1008.42 is one of the many statutes in Florida’s K-20 Education Code that charter school are exempt from (private vouchers schools are exempt as well but it is less noteworthy because they are exempt from almost every statute). Adding Cursive Writing to f.s. 1008.42 only impacts public schools and it does so in a punitive and burdensome way.

Since HB551 passed in 2023, any subject included in the Required Instruction statute creates extra regulatory burdens for districts, requiring submission of instructional plans—including instructional materials and the professional qualifications of the instructional personnel teaching each subject—for state approval. The FLDOE can reject these plans, and noncompliant districts risk funding cuts or other penalties from the State Board of Education. Again, charter schools need not comply at all.

Summary

Florida already has statewide cursive writing standards that apply to all public school students. If lawmakers truly believe in the importance of cursive, they should investigate whether current state assessment designs are de-prioritizing the mastery of cursive. They certainly should not be adding cursive writing to f.s. 1008.42, which simply piles more regulatory burdens on already overregulated public schools.

Rep. Overdorf’s HB921 is on the agenda to be heard in the House Student Academic Success Subcommittee on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 1:00 PM. You can read the Staff Analysis here and watch the meeting on thefloridachannel.org.