STATEHOUSE (April 26, 2017) —An education bill authored by State Sen. Eric Koch (R-Bedford) to survey Indiana schools about cursive writing recently passed the General Assembly with strong bipartisan support and was signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Senate Enrolled Act 29 will require the Indiana Department of Education (DOE) to survey elementary and secondary school administrators and teachers on whether they are for or against mandating cursive writing instruction and why. The DOE will then report the results back to the General Assembly.
When Indiana adopted the federal Common Core standards in 2010, the cursive writing requirement was not included in the new federal standards. When Indiana moved away from the federal curriculum and adopted Indiana standards in 2014, cursive writing was not added back into required curriculum for elementary students.
A bill to restore cursive writing as a curriculum requirement passed the Senate this session, but did not move forward in the House of Representatives.
“Cursive writing is an important skill that our students should be required to learn,” Koch said. “This bill will allow our teachers and school administrators to voice their opinions as this discussion moves forward."
More information on the bill can be found here.
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Click here for a high-resolution picture of Koch.
Contact: Rebekah Mackey, Press Secretary
Rebekah.Mackey@iga.in.gov
317-234-9133
