The legislature is considering a bill that would require public school students in grades three through five to learn cursive writing.
State Representative Sheila Lyman of Livermore Falls said she taught cursive writing for 36 years and wonders why it isn't included in state learning results writing standards.
"If they're not doing why [did] they decide not to. And the connection to learning results. I don't think it's in there. Could that be the reason for the shift," she said.
At a public hearing on the measure Thursday, Deb McIntyre of the Maine Curriculum Leaders Association said she opposes the bill and that cursive writing is not an essential skill in today's world.
"Instead we encourage the committee to focus on policies that offer students the flexibility to learn skills that will truly serve them in an increasingly digital and connected world," McIntyre said.
If passed, the law would require instruction in and opportunities to use cursive handwriting beginning by grade three and continuing to the end of grade five, starting next year.
Maine is among six states that leave the decision to teach cursive writing to individual school districts.
More than half of U.S. states do include cursive writing in their school curricula, according to the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation.
