Whether it is cursive handwriting or algebra or trig or calculus or physics, at the elementary and secondary levels, nearly every child should have to learn things, the practical application of which is not immediately obvious. Why?
Formal education needs to call the mind to stretch, to work that muscle.
Sure, teach the practical things, but I credit algebraic proofs and calculus with helping me understand how to break down immensely complicated problems into manageable parts, each of which can be solved in turn leading to an ultimate solution. When I was in Jr. High and High School having problems with Math and hating "story problems", my Dad, an engineer said: "Life is a story problem." That stuck with me. Life is, indeed, a story problem.
I don't do algebra, trig or calculus on a daily basis, nor write in cursive or have to know the state capitols or the reason why Andrew Johnson was impeached (which more people should know), but I use techniques and strategies I learned while learning these things nearly every day.
It's the State doing this. The teachers I know complain about the dumbing down of the curriculum.
One history teacher threw the new standards on the TV and showed the students how simple it's gotten. The requirements for some important events and people have been brought down to a sentence or two.