For those of us who grew up handwriting our school papers, it’s hard to imagine that some children can no longer read or write using cursive," said bill supporter and state Assemblywoman Shanique Speight.

Sherisse Kenerson in Alexandria, Virginia, leads a club of sixth- through eighth-graders who want to know the art of looping and curving their letters together.

Nearly 40 years later, the admonishments of my second-grade teacher at Thomas Jefferson Elementary in Anaheim still ring in my ears. “Messy! Messy!” I was a precocious 8-year-old, placed in a third-grade class for history, math and reading — but not ...