BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's public schools would have to teach cursive writing, if lawmakers agree to a bill advancing in the state Senate.
    
Sen. Beth Mizell, a Franklinton Republican, says she's worried students are spending too much time on keyboards and are losing their own signatures.
    
She says the bill was prompted by a land surveyor who told her he was having trouble finding younger people who could read the cursive on historic land notes.
    
Mizell's proposal would require cursive writing to be introduced by the third grade.
    
The Senate Education Committee - with senators lamenting the lost art of cursive - approved the bill without objection Thursday. It heads next to the Senate floor for consideration.
    
A handful of states have similar requirements in law, including Arkansas.