Ohio House Education Committee Chairman Andrew Brenner, R-Powell, introduced a bill Monday to mandate that kindergarteners through fifth graders be instructed in handwriting.
Schools have dialed back handwriting instruction to make more time for core academic requirements, such as helping struggling readers in first through third grades.
RELATED: What happened last time lawmakers tried to bring cursive back?
RELATED: Other states have mandated cursive for public schools
Cursive instruction is included in the state’s “model curriculum” for grades 3 and 4 and the State Board of Education passed a resolution in early 2014 in support of teaching cursive. But it isn’t a hard and fast requirement.
The same bill was introduced in 2015 but failed to pass before the two-year legislative session ended. Advocates for mandating cursive instruction say it helps hone fine motor skills and is needed for signing important records as reading historical hand-written documents.
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