Senate Bill S5140A

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S5140A

SPONSOR: JACOBS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring instruction
in cursive writing and memorization of multiplication tables as part of
the basic education program

 
PURPOSE:

This bill would require that cursive writing and memorization of multi-
plication tables are taught as part of the basic education program.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the education law by adding two new sections 817 and
818. The new section 817 would require that during the standard course
of study cursive writing shall be instructed so that students create
readable documents through legible cursive handwriting by the end of
fifth grade. The new section 818 would require the standard course of
              

study to include the instruction of memorizing multiplication tables to
demonstrate competency in efficiently multiplying numbers.

Section 2 sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

According to an article published by the National Institute of Health by
Karin H. James and Laura Engelhardt, "The Effects of handwriting experi-
ence on functional brain development in pre-literate children," there is
evidence suggesting that handwriting of letters influences brain acti-
vation during letter perception in important ways, and that handwriting
can therefore help with reading development in young children. There-
fore, without diminishing the increasing prevalence of typing skills,
New York State should continue to maintain a policy that promotes hand-
writing and cursive skills, as a way to promote literacy in young chil-
dren, but also to ensure that a skill as basic as signing one's own name
is not lost on students. Additionally the ability for pupils to show
competency in basic multiplication through a proven method schools have
used for years is very important. This bill would require that these two
fundamental building blocks of our children's education are not removed
from schools simply because they are not required as part of any of the
now numerous standardized tests students are subjected to.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2015-16: A.387 - Referred to Education
2013-14: A.8651 - Held for Consideration in Education

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to school years
commencing on the first of July next succeeding the date on which it
shall have become law.