Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 23, 2025 / 17:43 pm (CNA).
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed a law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom at the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
The legislation requires that a “durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments” be hung in each Texas public elementary or secondary school classroom.
Under the law, which Abbott signed on June 21, the display of the commandments cannot include “any additional content.” Each copy must be at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall, must be in a “conspicuous” location in the classroom, and must have a “typeface that is legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the classroom.”
The law notes that schools are not required to purchase the copies using district funds but stipulates that schools “must accept any offer of a privately donated poster or framed copy” that meets the specific requirements.
The bill, sponsored by Texas Sen. Phil King, passed in the Senate on March 19 with a 20-11 vote. It was then brought to the House of Representatives by state Rep. Candy Noble and passed on May 25 with a 82-46 vote.
“The focus of this bill is to look at what is historically important to our nation educationally and judicially,” Noble said upon its passage in the House.
The Senate gave final approval on May 28 with a 21-10 vote.
The Texas law comes after similar legislation was passed in Louisiana and Arkansas. The Louisiana law was blocked, however, when a federal appeals court ruled that it was unconstitutional, and the Arkansas law is being challenged in federal court.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced it will sue Texas over the new law and will be joined by the ACLU of Texas, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
The groups contend the law is “blatantly unconstitutional” and their aim is “to stop this violation of students’ and parents’ First Amendment rights.”
Some Christian and Jewish faith leaders sent a letter to lawmakers in March opposing the legislation. They stated that “government oversteps its authority when it dictates an official state-approved version of any religious text.”
The Texas law includes legal protections for schools to combat lawsuits and backlash. According to the law, the attorney general will defend any school facing legal action over compliance with the law and the state will cover any “expenses, costs, judgments, or settlements.”
The law provides specific wording of the Ten Commandments that all schools must use, starting with the words “I AM the LORD thy God.”
The commandments given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai are used as an ethical foundation by many faiths including Catholicism and other forms of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
The law will officially go into effect in Texas on Sept. 1 as the new school year begins.
The bill 10 is one of more than 600 signed by Abbott during the 89th regular legislative session. He also signed another bill that “allows schools to adopt a policy allowing students and employees to participate in daily, voluntary period of prayer and reading of religious texts.”
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