There has been a long simmering debate over cursive. The Education Establishment doesn't want it, so we are seeing less and less of cursive.

Common Core downplayed phonics and tried to drop cursive. There you have two of the reasons that Common Core is widely reviled.

 Truth is, a good case can be made for cursive, especially in the early years of schooling. It helps children learn to read. It helps children learn to make sense of language. Cursive makes children smarter because you have to be precise.

 Don't get sidetracked by thinking that "cursive" means a fancy Spencerian script. Cursive just means the letters are connected and flowing. As the years go by, every person's early cursive becomes a little sloppier. That's what we call handwriting.

 The opposite of cursive is block letters, unconnected and not very pretty. Everybody signature looks the same. 

 This article lists eight reasons why cursive is  beneficial.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/12/why_the_education_e...

Why the Education Establishment Hates Cursive, on American Thinker, with over 600 comments that reveal some of the pros and cons