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North Carolina lawmakers want cursive back in the classroom

RALEIGH, N.C. — A bill given final legislative approval Thursday would push schools to teach their students to write in cursive.

Teaching cursive is required in North Carolina public schools, but no one tracks it.

“Current generations we’re not even teaching cursive writing anywhere, so the closest most kids get to it is selecting the script font on their PC,” said Senator Jeff Tarte, (R) District 41.

House Bill 986 would make it so the State Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction had to report which districts are actually teaching it and those that aren't

"There's a body of folks and thought and research that indicates the ability to write cursively structures your thought processes," Sen. Tarte, who is on the education committee, said.

He said the reporting would highlight schools that need more attention and resources to put it in place.

Parents we spoke with were split on the bill.

"I'm not a big fan of cursive writing anymore," former teacher and parent Bob Joffe said "Everyone's pretty much on word processing computers, I think a kind of century-old skill right now, so no."

"They need to bring that back, " parent David Seagle said. "When you get in the real world working every day you got to know to how to write not just type. I think that the technology age has hampered the education process in America."

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