EDUCATION

Measure to require cursive writing in Indiana schools is back

Kris Turner
kris.turner@indystar.com

A measure requiring Indiana students to learn cursive is looping its way back to the forefront of the General Assembly for a fifth time.

Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, added a measure to House Bill 1009 on Wednesday that requires cursive writing to be reinstated as part of Indiana's curriculum. It now is part of what started as one of the major pieces of education legislation to come out of the General Assembly this session. The bill would overhaul statewide testing by replacing the ISTEP exam.

Leising has been a longtime supporter of cursive writing, sponsoring a cursive writing bill earlier in the session that ultimately failed. She also sponsored cursive writing bills in 2014, 2013 and 2012.

"I still have a pad of yellow Sticky Notes, and if I write out something neatly in cursive, I expect an intern at the Senate to be able to read that," she said, adding that younger generations will not be able to read or write cursive.

The Indiana State Board of Education voted in 2011 to eliminate it as a requirement for student instruction. Adding the measure to the House bill was a last-minute effort to try and get it passed, Leising said.

"I'm quite sure that bill will go to a conference committee," she said. "Whether I can keep the language in House Bill 1009 will be the challenge from my standpoint."

The bill was written by Rep. Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis.

Tory Flynn, a spokeswoman for the Indiana House Republicans, said the House had not received the bill from the Senate and no decision had been made on whether it would go to a conference committee.

Call Star reporter Kris Turner at (317) 444-6047. Follow him on Twitter: @krisnturner.