The Texas House of Representatives passed a Republican bill on Sunday requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every schoolroom across the Lone Star State, bringing it a step closer to becoming law.
After a week of debate, in which Democrats attempted to introduce amendments enabling individual districts to opt out and to list the commandments in languages other than English, the bill, known as SB 10, was finally voted through by 82 votes to 46.
The legislation will next be voted on in the state Senate and, should it pass, will be sent to Governor Greg Abbott's desk for his signature.
The Senate waved through an earlier draft in a 20-11 party-line vote.
The bill demands that all public elementary and high schools “display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments,” which must be no smaller than 16 inches by 20 inches and carry the complete text of the decalogue, as emblazoned on the stone tablets held aloft by Moses on Mount Sinai in the Book of Exodus, according to scripture.
If it becomes law, all Texas schools will be required to accept any appropriate displays that are privately donated from the 2025/26 academic year onwards.
It is not clear what the consequences might be for a headteacher or teacher who refuses to comply. Still, a House committee’s analysis concluded that the bill itself “does not expressly create a criminal offense.”
“By placing the Ten Commandments in our public school classrooms, we ensure our students receive the same foundational moral compass as our state and country’s forefathers,” Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said.
“The Ten Commandments are part of our Texas and American story,” said state Senator Phil King, the bill’s co-lead author.
State Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat and a Christian, has opposed it on behalf of the state’s non-Christian students by saying simply: “Forcing our religion down their throats is not love.”
Emily Witt of the Texas Freedom Network, which advocates for religious freedom, said the wave of conservative-led legislation across Texas and other southern states is part of a wider “coordinated strategy” to instill the Bible within public school education.
“The message this sends to kids is that they’re being told their religion doesn’t matter and isn’t as important as this one,” she said.
“We worry that leads to bullying and other-ism – all things in public schools that we try to prevent.”
Equivalent bills in Louisiana and Arkansas ordering public displays of the Commandments have been met with legal complaints that could end in the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in 1980 that such mandates were unconstitutional.
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