Proposed bill would require Nevada students to learn cursive writing
State Sen. Don Gustavson is using history as his guide as he again attempts to require Nevada students to learn cursive handwriting by the end of third grade.
Gustavson, R-Sparks, has even included the Founding Fathers in his cursive cause, which began with the 2015 legislative session and continued last week when he filed essentially the same bill draft that previously died in committee. This time around, he believes testimony from history and education experts will propel SB86 into law.
“All of our original founding documents and letters from our Founding Fathers were almost all done in cursive writing,” Gustavson said. “I want our citizens to be able to read both cursive writing and printing.”
Common Core standards call for students to learn handwriting in kindergarten and first grade. The standards do not require cursive, but teachers can opt to include it. Nevada adopted the standards as the Nevada Academic Content Standards in 2010.
Other states — including Florida, California, Louisiana and Alabama — have re-introduced cursive through legislation or adjusting state education standards.
The state Department of Education is neutral on the bill, spokesman Greg Bortolin said. The Clark County School District declined to comment Tuesday on the new bill, but in the 2015 session, district lobbyists said the requirement would overburden teachers.
“The Clark County School District has enough trouble teaching the material already included in the required standards,” lobbyist Craig Stevens testified, according to meeting minutes.
Clark County School Board Trustee Linda Young said she strongly supports teaching cursive.
“You can do it when you’re teaching spelling words or when you’re teaching the construction of a written paragraph, you can do a combination of two to three activities,” she said. “We’re here to educate children, and that piece that’s left out does a disservice to the students.”
Contact Meghin Delaney at 702-383-0281 or mdelaney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MeghinDelaney on Twitter.
