Well - everyone knows how important I think handwriting is in multiple ways - so I don't need persuading!
My father, who had no more than an eighth grade education, wrote in a beautiful Palmer hand. His one-room schoolhouse education did not promise to take him far, but it did allow him to place words on paper in an elegant and readable manner. And, this skill had practical utility beyond its aesthetic beauty, since he worked for many years as a bookkeeper.
But the public value of handwriting has diminished during the ensuing century. In fact, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) don�t even mention handwriting, cursive, or manuscript printing.
Nevertheless, It is evident that the standards writers expect kids to learn some form of these�since the standards explicitly call for students to engage in written composition; and this would be hard to do if one had no way of getting words on paper.