Cursive Writing Course to Return to Georgia Schools

Older generations may remember the phrase, “I’ll need your John Hancock on that.”

What were they talking about? And who was John Hancock?

Well, Hancock was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His signature was the biggest one, and he signed it in cursive – hence the phrase.

It’s been years since cursive writing has been taught in Georgia schools.

But on Monday, State School Superintendent Richard Woods announced that teaching cursive writing is coming back to the classroom.

Speaking at South Franklin Elementary School, he said students in Georgia classrooms will soon be learning to write and read in cursive again.

Woods said beginning in the fall, elementary schools will be teaching cursive in the 3rd and 4th grades, and a new banner award, called the Hancock Banner, will be awarded to schools that reach a certain level of achievement in cursive writing.

Addressing students and teachers, Woods said Monday that it has become very apparent that young people need to know how to read and write in cursive and be able to sign their names in cursive on important documents, whether the document is a hard copy or online.

But to achieve a John Hancock banner, students must reach one other requirement.

In 2010, the Common Core State Standards, which were adopted by many states, did not include cursive writing, leading to its removal from the curriculum in many schools.

However, since then, there has been a trend of states adding back cursive writing requirements.

In 2016, 14 states required cursive writing instruction, and that number has steadily increased.

And as of July 2024, 24 states now require schools to teach cursive writing.