Pennsylvania state legislators are in the process of making two major changes to the state’s public education system, with a bill mandating cursive writing signed into law this February and another banning cell phone use also on track to become law.

Gov. Josh Shapiro signed House Bill 17 into law Feb. 11, mandating cursive writing be taught in public schools. A bipartisan state bill calling for a bell-to-bell banning of cell phones at state public schools went to the Pennsylvania House after passing in the Senate Feb. 5. Adding momentum to the legislation, a Quinnipiac Poll on February 25 found that 71 percent favored a cell phone ban vs. just 20 percent opposed.

The bill to bring back cursive was passed in February in hopes of bringing more of the classic formal education style back to the state’s public schools. Pennsylvania is now the 26th state to require cursive to be taught to students.

One key part of this bill is there are no guidelines for how schools are supposed to implement cursive into their curriculum. Spring-Ford, however, is ahead of the curve.

“The Spring-Ford Area School District is well positioned to meet Pennsylvania’s new cursive handwriting requirement, as cursive instruction has long been embedded in our elementary ELA curriculum,” K-6 curriculum supervisor Brianna Angelucci said. “Students are formally introduced to cursive in third grade and continue to develop fluency in fourth grade, with instruction clearly outlined in our curriculum and pacing documents.

“To support consistent implementation, the district provides all elementary teachers with a grade-level handwriting packet for every student at the start of each school year. This ensures that cursive instruction is systematic, developmentally appropriate, and aligned across classrooms, while reinforcing the foundational literacy skills our students need for long-term academic success.”

Though it would appear this law does not vastly change anything for Spring-Ford students, the new cell phone ban could spark a profound change in policy.

The bill, which the Pennsylvania State Legislature has been trying to pass since 2024, would implement a state wide “bell-to-bell” phone ban that would prohibit students from using phones at any point in the school day, whether they are receiving active instruction or not. Exceptions will be made for students with special circumstances and those who use their phones as a medical device.

“I am calling on you to put a bill on my desk to ban cell phones while kids are in school,” Shapiro said in his budget address. “I know there are bills in both chambers to do this — come together and send a bill to my desk. Students need to spend less time focused on their phones and more time focused on learning, on talking to their friends face to face, and on developing the critical skills they’ll need later in life.”

The bill was passed in the Senate by a resounding 46-1 vote, with the hopes that by creating a space with no access to phones and social media, it will remove classroom distractions as well as improve academic performance and student mental health.

According to reports, the bill is currently set to go into effect for the 2027-28 school year if passed.

CBS Philadelphia reported that, “the legislation includes exceptions for students with certain medical conditions, those with individualized education plans that require a personal communication device, English as a second language learners who need phones to help translate, teachers using phones as an instructional tool when approved by principals and single-day occasions like field trips or science fairs.”