Nevada lawmaker aims for more cursive education

By Yvonne Gonzalez

Monday, May 1, 2017 | 6 p.m.

Cursive could make a comeback in more Nevada classrooms under a bill that would have required the curriculum, but now leaves it optional.

Many Nevada schools still teach cursive, but Senate Bill 86 codifies the option for school district leaders to implement the curriculum for elementary students. Sen. Don Gustavson, R-Sparks, said his bill puts the option of cursive curriculum into the statute to encourage more districts to use it.

Curriculum needs to aim for students to write readable cursive documents by fourth grade, according to the bill. Cursive handwriting has not been part of the Nevada Academic Content Standards since 2010.

The bill came up for a hearing Monday in the Assembly Education Committee. Members of the Senate passed the measure unanimously on April 19.

Two students who spoke in favor of the bill said cursive handwriting can have positive impacts on learning and cognitive ability. Gustavson also stressed the importance of students being able to read historic documents that are in cursive, such as the Declaration of Independence.

The Clark County School District supports the amended bill after taking a neutral stance on the original version. Craig M. Stevens, CCSD’s director of intergovernmental relations, had urged the Senate Education Committee to consider that a mandate would create the need for additional professional development materials and classroom tools.

“The time needed to teach the current content standards utilizes pretty much every minute of the school day for our students and teachers,” Stevens said. “We want you to consider how crunched the school day is now as you think about the impact of adding to the content standards and curriculum.”

Gustavson said he’d like to see cursive as required curriculum, but noted there are already many mandates for education.