I know that varies by region, but schoolchildren are generally taught cursive as a faster way to write. It already requires some memorisation with some glyphs being different from block letters. Why not make an additional step and completely replace it with shorthand, making writing an order of magnitude faster?
we learned something called personal shorthand in school (1980s). it was a unit in a required class in high school. i wish they would’ve done it in junior high instead, though. no glyphs, just regular letters. i still use bits and pieces of it decades later.