Photo courtesy of Work Sheet Shq.com

MIAMI – Cursive writing is restored in Florida schools after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 182 into law, which takes effect July 1, 2026.

Students in grades three through will be required to write in cursive for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year.

The law aims to ensure that students can demonstrate proficiency in cursive writing by the end of fifth grade including writing uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet, words and sentences legibly with proper spacing and alignment, and applying cursive writing to support literacy development, such as writing essays and class assignments.

Cursive writing was removed from schools due to the adoption of the Common Core standards, which prioritized digital literacy and keyboarding over traditional handwriting, according to History Facts.com.

The decline of cursive writing accelerated after 2010 when the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) adopted.

The standards omitted cursive instruction, focusing instead on core competencies in reading, writing, and mathematics, as well as digital literacy.

Schools faced limited instructional time and had to prioritize skills deemed more relevant for the 21st century, such as typing and computer proficiency.

Because cursive was not required for standardized testing, many districts quietly dropped it from the curriculum.