Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz has drafted
and will soon introduce legislation that would require both cursive
writing and memorization of the multiplication table to be part of the
basic education curriculum in New York.
With
the implementation of Common Core in New York State, students are more
and more often skipping once fundamental elements of their educational
foundation. Currently, there is no requirement in the Common Core for
students to be taught cursive writing or to memorize the multiplication
table. The new Dinowitz legislation would require that these two
fundamental building blocks of our children’s education are kept in
schools, even if they are not required as part of any of the now
numerous standardized tests students are subjected to.
“The
notion that a pupil could graduate from 12 years of education without
knowing how to sign his or her name in cursive is unacceptable,”
Dinowitz said. “Additionally, the ability for pupils to show competency
in basic multiplication through a proven method schools have used for
years is of the utmost importance.”
The
legislation would amend section 801 of the New York State education
law, which requires certain elements of the state’s education curriculum
to be maintained and implemented in order to create well rounded
students that are well versed in subject matters deemed fundamental
throughout the years. Cursive writing and knowledge of the
multiplication table would thus be deemed “fundamental” and as a result
would be required in schools.
“As
schools move more and more to ‘teaching to the test’ and away from what
once was considered essential parts of a child’s learning process, I am
hopeful that this legislation will keep what I consider to be crucial
components of one’s education part of the curriculum,” Dinowitz said.
“We can adhere to the Common Core curriculum, while at the same time
ensuring our children know how to read and write in cursive as well as
perform basic multiplication. The two are in no way mutually exclusive.”
