Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday signed legislation requiring New Jersey school districts to include cursive handwriting instruction in grades three through five, marking a statewide shift back toward a skill that had largely disappeared from classrooms over the past decade.
The new law takes effect immediately and will apply beginning with the next full school year. It directs districts to incorporate cursive handwriting into their elementary curricula, reversing a trend that followed the 2010 adoption of the Common Core State Standards, which did not include handwriting instruction.
State officials said the change aligns New Jersey with a growing number of states, including California and New Hampshire, that have recently reinstated cursive instruction after concerns that students were losing the ability to read and write cursive text.
Murphy linked the move to both practical and historical considerations as the nation approaches a major milestone.
“The return to including cursive instruction is especially meaningful as New Jersey celebrates the upcoming 250th anniversary of our country’s founding,” Murphy said.
He added that cursive enables students to read founding documents, complete everyday tasks such as signing checks, and gain cognitive benefits associated with handwriting.
New Jersey Department of Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer said the requirement supports broader developmental goals.
“Ensuring that all students learn cursive handwriting reinforces not just a traditional skill, but developmental foundations that support fine motor development, literacy skills, and student confidence,” Dehmer said, noting that the instruction will be embedded alongside other core learning for grades three through five.
The bill was co-sponsored by Sens. Angela McKnight and Shirley Turner and Assembly members Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Shanique Speight, and Rosaura Bagolie. Lawmakers emphasized that cursive remains relevant despite the increasing use of digital tools in schools and daily life.
McKnight said the legislation ensures students gain a skill they will use throughout their lives, while Turner cited research linking handwriting to improvements in comprehension, memory, and critical thinking. Reynolds-Jackson and Speight highlighted cursive as an essential life skill, particularly for signing legal and financial documents.
Bagolie described the measure as grounded in learning science rather than nostalgia, pointing to studies showing that handwriting activates neural pathways connected to literacy, attention, and memory. She said the law preserves flexibility for districts to use instructional approaches that support diverse learners.
Under the statute, school districts will determine how to integrate cursive instruction into existing lesson plans, but all students in the specified grades must receive exposure to the skill as part of their regular coursework.