TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – While the next Legislative session is still a couple of months away, Florida lawmakers are already busy filing new bills that could become law.
One such bill is House Bill 127, which would require students in grades 2-5 to learn how to write in cursive.
Recommended Videos
CURSIVE COMPREHENSION
Per the bill’s text, HB 127 claims that these students must develop the skills “necessary for legible cursive writing,” including letter formation, proper spacing and alignment, and practice with writing complete words in cursive.
“By the end of grade 5, each student must demonstrate proficiency in cursive writing through an evaluation of written work,” the bill reads.
According to the text, “proficiency” means that students can write in both uppercase and lowercase cursive letters, as well as write essays and assignments in cursive writing.
Florida dropped cursive writing from its academic standards in 2010, though the subject was reinstated just a few years later. Now, cursive writing is required as part of B.E.S.T. ELA standards for grades 3-5, though students don’t necessarily have to be able to read or comprehend cursive.
As a result, HB 127 would extend the range of students who have to learn cursive, as well as mandate that schools make sure students know how to write and read it. If it gets approved, the bill would take effect on July 1, 2026.
But that’s not the only course that Florida students could soon be facing.
COMMUNISM CLASS
A law passed last year (SB 1264) will require public schools to teach about the history of communism.
The coursework involves instruction on communist movements in places like Russia, China, Cuba, and even in the U.S. itself. According to Legislative analysts, instruction must include “age-appropriate” content about the following:
- The history of communism in the U.S. and domestic communist movements
- Atrocities committed in foreign countries under the guidance of communism
- Comparative discussion of political ideologies, such as communism and totalitarianism
- The increasing threat of communism in the U.S. and to its allies
- The economic, industrial, and political events that have preceded communist revolutions
- The communist policies of Cuba and the spread of communist ideologies throughout Latin America
According to the law’s text, the subject is slated to be taught as part of a school’s social studies or language arts curriculum.
The law was ultimately signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April 2024, with the State Board of Education becoming responsible for developing course standards.
State officials noted earlier this year that workgroups met between December 2024 and April 2025 to craft these standards, which will be considered for adoption at a BOE meeting this fall.
Regardless of when the standards are adopted, the coursework is scheduled to be integrated in classrooms beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
News 6 has reached out to the Florida Department of Education for more information about the proposed standards and has yet to receive a response.
CPR TRAINING
This class comes after the latest Legislative session, as lawmakers managed to pass House Bill 1607.
The law went into effect on July 1, and it requires public schools to carry at least one AED on school grounds by July 2027.
However, another provision of the law mandates that school districts provide basic first-aid training (including CPR) in secondary schools — once during middle school and again in high school — as part of a P.E. or health class.
This instruction must allow students to practice performing CPR and learn how to use an AED.