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The question of cursive in schools is swirling again, this time in Illinois. Lawmakers there recently passed a measure mandating cursive instruction, overriding the governor鈥檚 veto and joining at least that require penmanship classes.

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed the measure, calling it 鈥測et another unfunded mandate,鈥� the Chicago Tribune . But a bipartisan consensus in the Illinois House and Senate voted to override his veto. It is the state Congress has overridden a Rauner veto.

鈥淐ursive writing is a skill children will need throughout their lives,鈥� Senate Assistant Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, a Democrat who led the push, said in a . 鈥淵ou cannot write a check, sign legal documents, or even read our Constitution without an understanding of cursive writing.鈥�

The law requires cursive instruction by fifth grade for Illinois students starting in the 2018鈥�19 school year.

The Great Cursive Debate has resurfaced several times since 2010, when many states adopted the Common Core State Standards, which require keyboarding skills but not penmanship. In 2014, a on the PBS NewsHour asked, 鈥淚s Cursive Handwriting Dead in America?鈥�

But in a 2016 opinion piece, The Washington Post鈥檚 Joe Heim that cursive was 鈥淟ike Madonna and newspapers鈥� in its 鈥済ritty staying power.鈥�

鈥淐ursive writing was supposed to be dead by now,鈥� Heim wrote.

In some places, maybe it is. An attempt to introduce cursive requirements in the state of failed to even get a committee vote in the state house last year.

And yet, in the past two years alone, states including , , and have implemented cursive legislation. The country鈥檚 largest district, , encourages cursive as well.

But do kids really need the fancy letters to succeed? Critics say teaching cursive takes up time and resources better spent on other things. And some educators argue that if it鈥檚 not mandated by the Common Core State Standards, why bother?

Some research suggests that writing by hand rather than typing helps students remember what they write, and neat writing is important for success in school, education professor Steve Graham last year. But whether students learn to write by hand in cursive or print doesn鈥檛 make much difference, Graham said.

Others suggest that students need cursive to access historical documents and write faster. And cursive may make reading and writing easier for some students with learning disabilities, according to a 2014 article.

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