You’re not in a timewarp, folks. It’s happening again.
Lawmakers have filed multiple bills this session to force the Ten Commandments into all public school classrooms. On Tuesday April 29, the House Public Education Committee will consider the most likely of these to become law, SB 10. While we applaud the authors for cute bill naming, we vehemently oppose this bill. Here’s what you need to know, and how you can help fight back against government-mandated religious instruction.
Starting with the 2025-26 school year, SB 10 would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every K-12 public school classroom in Texas, either framed or on durable posters. The size (16” x 20”) and exact wording are dictated in the bill, the copies must be visible from anywhere in the room, and no other content is allowed on the displays. Schools lacking compliant displays would be compelled to accept privately donated ones, and could use tax dollars to purchase them.
So why is this bill so problematic?
Parents and faith leaders should guide religious education, not the government.
Freedom of religion is one of the foundational principles of our nation. We all are entitled to religious freedom, and our personal faith beliefs should be respected, not infringed upon. That means leaving religious instruction to be guided by parents and the faith leaders of their choosing. Religion is deeply personal, and when the government inserts itself into that sacred relationship and decides which texts to elevate above all others, it undermines and usurps the authority of parents and faith leaders to guide children’s faith journey. Simply put, it is a violation of religious freedom and parental rights. Public schools are NOT Sunday schools.
Students and education professionals deserve to feel valued and respected at school, their home away from home, and that includes respecting their faith traditions.
Texas has a rich cultural heritage that becomes more and more diverse every day. We are not solely Christians and Jews. We count among us Sikhs, Muslims… people of many other faiths, and people with no religious faith. We are multi-generational Americans and new immigrants alike. The Ten Commandments is simply NOT a part of all Texans’ “history and tradition.”
When a sacred text of one branch of religion is held up as the favored and ultimate model of moral behavior, it denigrates the moral teachings of other religions. For example, the first commandment is actually in direct contradiction to the beliefs of many Hindus, Buddhists, and people practicing traditional polytheistic African tribal or folk religions. Imagine a child who has been raised with multiple deities seeing “I AM the LORD thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” all day, every day of the school week, in direct contradiction to what their parents and religious faith leaders are teaching them.
No matter how SB 10 supporters try to sell it, the proposed bill is a violation of our religious freedom.
We’re heard various justifications for this bill, and none of them hold water.
Some bill proponents stress that the Ten Commandments is at the heart of many of our shared morals and laws, so it should be prominently displayed in every public school classroom as a historical document. Yet we know of no bill forcing copies of the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, or the Constitution into public school classrooms.
Some argue that children are “crying out for moral clarity” and insinuate that if the Ten Commandments were displayed in all classrooms, children would have better morals and we would see fewer school shootings and behavioral problems. While children are clearly experiencing higher rates of depression, self harm, and gun violence in recent years, it is wishful thinking to expect a poster on the wall to be a public health panacea. Perhaps lawmakers should focus on funding trained public schools counselors instead?
In a study of discipline problems reported by public schools, the top three cited were not adultery, the making of graven images, or failure to keep the Sabbath holy, but bullying, cyber bullying, and disrespect toward teachers. Perhaps a skilled theologian could make a connection between coveting thy neighbor’s cattle and cyberbullying, but it seems unlikely that any of the Ten Commandments will address the issues facing children in the classroom.
None of this is to make light of the important role that the Ten Commandments play for many in the Judeo-Christian community, but these problems merit proven solutions. If lawmakers’ goal was truly the safety and social and emotional well-being of our children, they would be using the multitude of evidence-based policies and curricula at their disposal, and institute policies that support parents so that THEY can be the moral authority in their children’s lives.
Where does it end? A crucifix in every class?
Texas lawmakers have been on a slow and steady march toward eliminating the separation of church and state. In 2021, they required schools to accept and display, “In God we Trust” signs. In 2023, they passed a law allowing schools to utilize chaplains as school counselors. And in 2024, the State Board of Education passed a measure to coerce school districts into adopting a Bible-infused curriculum by tying its adoption to sorely needed funding. And now, in 2025, we see efforts to mandate prayer time in public schools and displays of the Ten Commandments in every classroom. It makes one wonder where this path leads next. Will 2027 bring us efforts to install crucifixes in every school? After all, one needs only walk into your nearest big box store from early October to January 6 to see just how influential Jesus has been on our “history and traditions.”
Forcing the Ten Commandments into public schools is unconstitutional.
The primary author has acknowledged SB 10 will face constitutional challenges, and is hoping that the current Supreme Court will overturn decades of precedent, as they did with abortion rights, in light of a recent Supreme Court case called Kennedy vs. Bremerton School District. Without getting too much into the weeds, here’s why you keep reading, “history and traditions” in quotes!
In Stone vs. Graham (1980), the Supreme Court declared a Kentucky law requiring displays of the Ten Commandments in public schools to be unconstitutional, as it failed the “Lemon Test.” The Lemon Test was a judicial method of determining whether a particular statute violates the part of the First Amendment prohibiting government establishment of religion. That method was recently abandoned in favor of a “history and tradition” test in the Kennedy case, which involved a high school coach praying after football games. What SB 10 supporters ignore, however, is that the Kennedy decision did not give the government the right to coerce a captive audience of students into receiving government-mandated religious messaging in every class throughout their entire day.
Louisiana recently beat Texas to the punch in passing an unconstitutional Ten Commandments bill, and theirs was declared in violation of the First Amendment by a federal district court last year.
Let’s fight this together
If you’ve read this far, you are a religious freedom rockstar. Like us, you probably believe that teaching about religious influence in history is important, but mandating the display of religious texts is government interference that promotes religious beliefs many students simply don’t share and undermines parental rights. You likely believe public schools can and should teach universal values without endorsing specific religious traditions. Many faiths teach empathy, kindness, compassion, and respect—and forcing one religion’s text on all students and teachers contradicts those principles.
Join us in calling on legislators to focus on policies that unite and support all Texas students and create inclusive environments where they feel welcomed, not implement mandates that divide our communities. Public schools should be focused on providing students with skills for academic success, not promoting specific religious beliefs. Join us at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 29 and urge lawmakers to reject this unconstitutional and divisive bill.
Whether or not you can join us, please send your representative a message using our easy tool and spread the word among your family and friends.
