my 2nd, and 3rd grade teachers told me that everything after it would be cursive. i'm in 7th grade, and i have not used it since. i don't think it's necessary to know. i barely ever see books, or signs, or bilboards, or well, anything, written in cursive. I don't think that we need to have "preety", or "nicer" handwriting. I think it's harder to read, and of course, this is just my opinion. Teachers are even saying things like, "please only do this report in print, or on a computer!