Florida’s updated teacher training law requires cursive instruction in grades 3 through 5, aiming to strengthen handwriting and literacy.
Cursive is making a policy comeback in Florida classrooms, with the state requiring explicit instruction for students in the early grades.
Under a bill signed by Gov.. Ron DeSantis, Florida schools will now be required to teach cursive handwriting to students in grades three through five.. The change is tied to an amended teacher training and mentoring law. shifting what students are expected to practice as part of their writing development.
Supporters say the measure reflects a practical literacy concern. Rep. Toby Overdorf, a Stuart Republican who helped push the original cursive concept through the Legislature, argued that handwriting skills can matter beyond school assignments, including the ability to sign documents later in life.
In this context, the policy also signals how Florida is trying to shape classroom instruction through teacher-focused requirements, rather than leaving cursive to individual districts or personal preference.
The final language sets expectations for what students should be able to do by fifth grade. including reading sample cursive and writing sentences with appropriate formatting.. Overdorf said the underlying goal is to strengthen literacy skills that can carry forward through later education. while the Florida Department of Education determines how schools should support students with developmental delays.
For some educators. the new requirement lands on a long-standing debate about how much writing time young students should spend practicing handwriting versus other standards.. Dora Escobedo. who taught in primary grades for years before moving into public librarianship. described limited minutes for cursive instruction during her tenure and said teachers often prioritized other writing expectations.
Other handwriting advocates frame cursive as more than tradition, arguing it can support comprehension, sentence development, and learning fundamentals.. Valerie Weil. a handwriting examiner and certified cursive coach. compared handwriting to a personal footprint and said connected writing can help students organize ideas and interact with original materials in a more focused way.
As Florida schools implement the new training and classroom benchmarks, the bigger question may be whether cursive instruction becomes a consistent, measurable part of early literacy—or simply another requirement competing for limited instructional time.
Misryoum notes that the policy’s success will likely hinge on how teacher mentoring is carried out and how local classrooms translate standards into daily practice, especially for students who need additional support.