Gov. Abbott ‘looks forward’ to signing bill to require Ten Commandment displays in Texas classrooms

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is eager to sign legislation to mandate displays of the Ten Commandments in school classrooms, his office told The Lion, in what he sees as a return to tradition and “strong moral character.”

“For 200 years, the Ten Commandments were displayed in public buildings and classrooms across America to instill strong moral character in our children and among our communities,” Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement on Friday to The Lion. “Governor Abbott looks forward to returning Texas to this tradition when he signs SB 10 into law.” 

The measure, which was recently passed by the state Legislature and is headed to the governor’s desk, would require all public elementary and secondary school classrooms to display a framed copy of the Ten Commandments. The legislation requires the displays to be “in a conspicuous place” and “include only the text of the Ten Commandments.”  

It also requires the commandments to be written in a “size and typeface that is legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the classroom in which the poster or framed copy is displayed and to be “at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall.” 

Once signed, Texas will become the third state to require such displays amid a nationwide trend away from the decades-long secularization of public education. 

Arkansas passed a similar law in April, reported by The Lion, as Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office praised the Ten Commandments as the “basis of all Western law and morality” and noted it is “entirely appropriate to display them to students, state employees, and every Arkansan who enters a government building.”  

Louisiana last year became the first state to mandate the Ten Commandments to be in public classrooms, but its law quickly became tied up in federal courts following a lawsuit.  

If enacted, the Texas measure will likely face similar legal challenges. The same groups suing in Louisiana – the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Freedom From Religion Foundation – have announced they intend to sue in Texas. 

“S.B. 10 is blatantly unconstitutional. We will be working with Texas public school families to prepare a lawsuit to stop this violation of students’ and parents’ First Amendment rights,” the groups said in a joint statement. “S.B. 10 will subject students to state-sponsored displays of the Ten Commandments for nearly every hour of their public education. It is religiously coercive and interferes with families’ right to direct children’s religious education.” 

The groups argued that the Texas legislation will “co-opt the faith of millions of Texans and marginalize students and families who do not subscribe to the state’s favored scripture.” 

On a national level, President Donald Trump has expressed strong support for displaying the Ten Commandments in school classrooms. 

In a Truth Social post last year regarding Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law, Trump wrote that he loved the Ten Commandments being in public and private schools as well as “many other places.”  

“THIS MAY BE, IN FACT, THE FIRST MAJOR STEP IN THE REVIVAL OF RELIGION,” he wrote. “WHICH IS DESPERATELY NEEDED, IN OUR COUNTRY.”