Pennsylvania bill requiring schools to teach cursive signed into law

Cursive handwriting is returning to Pennsylvania schools thanks to a bill signed into law this week.

Act 2 of 2026 (formerly House Bill 17) — agreed to in the state Senate last week and the state House last June — was signed by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday. The law requires schools in the Commonwealth to incorporate cursive handwriting into curriculum at private and public schools.

In a post on social media, Shapiro said he that his own cursive is definitely rusty, but thought his penmanship was okay.

“I just signed — in my best cursive — a bipartisan bill requiring cursive handwriting to be taught in all Pennsylvania public schools,” Shapiro said.

Introduced by state Rep. Dane Watro (R-Luzerne/Schuylkill), HB 17 would return cursive to curriculums.

“In an increasingly digital world, cursive has fallen by the wayside,” Watro wrote in a memo supporting the bill. “However, there are compelling cognitive, developmental, and practical reasons for ensuring students have at least a basic grasp of cursive writing.”

Several states already have laws requiring cursive to be taught, including nearby Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. Watro wrote in his memo that cursive handwriting has many cognitive benefits for younger students.

“Research shows that learning cursive activates areas of the brain involved in executive function, fine motor skills and working memory,” Watro said. “The linked, flowing motions of cursive writing help reinforce neural connections and build hand-eye coordination in developing brains. Students who learn cursive may show improved language fluency, enhanced creativity, and better recall.”

Watro believes that skipping cursive “robs students,” and that the growing cursive illiteracy in the United States prevents younger people from reading historical sources like the Declaration of Independence or learning how to write signatures.

“While digital devices are pervasive, many important documents require signatures or other handwriting,” Watro said. “A growing cursive illiteracy poses a threat to accessing and comprehending key historical sources, such as the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.”

FOX43’s Josh Feldstein contributed to this story.