Mary Gilmore, Staff Writer
Texas enacted a new law on June 21st that went into effect on September 1st, requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
The bill was proposed following Louisiana’s bill for the same concept. Both Texas and Louisiana proposed that the Ten Commandments would be required in public schools, with their specific statement being, “[…] a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in ‘large, easily readable font’ in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities.”
Louisiana was the first to actually pass the bill, after proposing the bill in February of 2024 and it passing in June 2025. Texas proposed the bill over a year later, in May of 2025, with it also passing just days after Louisiana’s. Additionally, Arkansas proposed a Ten Commandments bill in early 2025, with it being passed on August 5, 2025.
President Donald J. Trump has been open about his conservative Christian values throughout his presidency. In June, he attended the gathering of the Faith & Freedom Coalition and discussed these bills.
“Has anyone read the ‘Thou shalt not steal’? I mean, has anybody read this incredible stuff? It’s just incredible,” Trump said. “They don’t want it to go up. It’s a crazy world.’’
President Trump also believes even more Christianity should be implemented in schools, recently stating his intention to bring prayer into public schools.
Texas Values, a conservative journal that discusses Texas and Republican news, stated, “The Ten Commandments were once a cornerstone of American education and the American legal system. They put forth universal moral truths that bring a sense of clarity to students in public school systems that are being inundated with moral confusion and ambiguity.”
However, while some Texans are happy, the new Ten Commandments law has received increased pushback from teachers, admin, students, and parents alike. These groups of people believe education should stay separate from religion, especially since there is not one unified religion among students in a classroom. Students come from different backgrounds and experience different religious beliefs in their homes.
According to NBC news, people are pushing back in their own ways. One parent is sending her child to school with a First Amendment pin and offering multiple pins to other parents for their children. A teacher in southeast Texas is entirely resisting the law by not hanging up the Ten Commandments. She stated that if it came to it, she would hang the poster upside down. Other Texan teachers are including multiple types of religion in their classroom among the Ten Commandments. This includes tenets from Hinduism and Buddhism.
Additionally, elementary school teachers expressed their confusion about the poster in their classrooms. Many teach similar ideologies to the Commandments, like don’t lie, don’t steal, and be a good person. However, the actual text of the Commandments contains heavy language, like “covet”, “thou shalt”, and “bear false witness”. These words will not make sense to young children, causing the poster to be useless in most elementary classrooms.
While the pushback from leftist individuals is immense, the Ten Commandments law appears as if it will remain for many years to come. President Trump is heavily pushing conservative Chrsitian values throughout the current government. He has over three years remaining in his term, meaning these values will continue to be upheld.
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