RALEIGH, N.C.—Elementary-school students will once again be taught to write in cursive in North Carolina, as part of a Back to Basics law signed late Wednesday by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory.

This year, North Carolina implemented the common-core state standards, a set of math and English goals agreed upon by 45 states. The standards require students be proficient in keyboarding by fourth grade but do not require cursive instruction, a change from the long tradition of North Carolina and many other states. The Wall Street Journal...