The full Florida House will consider a bill to mandate that students learn cursive writing

children in school — Students in school by Ridofranz via iStock for WMNF News.

As digital learning continues to expand, a bill is ready to go to the full Florida House that would require public elementary school students to learn cursive writing.

The House Education & Employment Committee on Thursday unanimously approved the bill (HB 921), which would require cursive instruction in grades 2 through 5 and require students to demonstrate proficiency by the end of fifth grade.

“Cursive writing plays a crucial role in everyday life,” bill sponsor Toby Overdorf, R-Palm City, told the committee. “Going to a bank, signing your name, putting your name on a voter ID card, and that individual signature that then has to be replicated over and over again to prove that you are you.”

Overdorf said “most” private schools are already teaching cursive writing to proficiency.

While she voted for the measure, Rep. Rita Harris, D-Orlando, said cursive writing is already taught at public schools and that she thinks students are “over-tested” already.

“Maybe kids who are second-graders can begin to learn cursive, and it will catch things like dyslexia earlier, and some hand-eye coordination with them earlier as well, but in a way that’s not going to put more pressure on the teachers and the students,” Harris said.

Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, has filed a Senate version of the bill (SB 1394), which has not been heard in committees.