LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Amidst passing gun reform legislation on Thursday, the Michigan House passed bipartisan legislation that would encourage a renaissance of cursive handwriting in public schools. 

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Under House Bill 4064, a curriculum and model program of instruction in cursive handwriting would be created and made available for public schools to implement at their own discretion, but the Department of Education would be “strongly encouraged to develop or adopt” the curriculum by no later than Aug. 1, 2024.  

Representative Brenda Carter (D-Pontiac) sponsored the legislation and said how important it is to be taught in schools. 

“Currently, there are 21 states that still require cursive to be taught. It is a well known fact among many in the scientific community that children and adults alike need to develop and learn handwriting skills.” 

Additionally, Rep. Carter expounded upon the research regarding how it positively affected children’s education. 

“It was found that children who learned to hand write cursive were better able to store in their memory the information they had written than the participants who only type and learn,” she said, “The conclusion of the study was clear: students who learn through writing are better able to develop memory.” 

Representative Carter also spoke to how the knowledge of cursive has been impactful on her own life, as she found a letter from her now deceased son, who had written her a note in cursive back in 1996; she was able to pass the note on to her granddaughter to read. 

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A week later she wrote me a note saying ‘My grandma is amazing’ in cursive, Carter said. 

“I keep the note on my desk as a reminder how important cursive is for future generations,” she said. 

Representative Andrew Fink (R-Hillsdale) rose in support of the bill arguing that it can have many benefits for students’ schools that adopt cursive curriculum. 

“Cursive writing trains a student’s brain to learn function specialization, it improves memory, and helps develop the fine motor skills that help students in other areas such as art and sports,” Rep. Fink said, “Learning cursive also cultivates the development of better writing and reading habits, especially for students struggling with dyslexia.  It improves writing speed while conserving cognitive bandwidth, and increases overall mental acuity.” 

He also recommended that Rep. Carter be commended for bringing forth this legislation. 

“The state adopting and promulgating a cursive curriculum will help every student whose school elects to offer the coursework,” he continued, “Many historical documents, including those by which our country and national government were founded were products of cursive writing.” 

The Senate could consider the bill as early as next week.