RALEIGH (AP) — A North Carolina Senate committee is taking up a bill mandating the teaching of cursive writing and multiplication tables in public schools.
The Senate Education Committee will debate the so-called “Back to Basics” bill Wednesday. The bill requires school boards to ensure all of their students can create readable cursive documents by the end of fifth grade and can show they’ve memorized multiplication tables.
The bill passed the House last month with no opposition, though some protestors at the state NAACP’s Monday demonstrations have said it shows overreach from the legislature.
The bill is seen by some as a response to the adoption of uniform national standards that leave out cursive handwriting. Other states have also sought to restore cursive as a requirement for all schools.