Texas is leading a national effort to integrate the Ten Commandments into public school classrooms, with a state law requiring their display in every classroom. This initiative is part of a broader conservative push to instill religious values in education, with similar laws emerging in states like Louisiana, Arkansas, and Alabama. The law stipulates that schools must accept donated posters and display them, rather than purchasing them with state funds.
Conservative organizations and figures, including Glenn Beck, have mobilized to ensure schools comply with the Texas law. Beck's nonprofit, Mercury One, and groups like MillionVoices and Patriot Mobile are partnering to fund the printing and distribution of Ten Commandments posters. Their "Restore American Schools" website allows donors to contribute $1 to provide a poster for a Texas classroom, and has reportedly secured posters for over 145,000 classrooms in more than 4,100 schools. Teachers in some districts have resigned rather than hang the posters.
Despite a federal appeals court upholding the Texas law, civil liberties organizations, including the ACLU, have challenged it, representing 16 families from various religious and non-religious backgrounds in a federal lawsuit. This coalition has also petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the law, arguing it violates the First Amendment's protections against government-established religion. The Houston Independent School District, the largest in Texas, has stated it will comply with the law by September 1, posting the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
