Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) signed a bill requiring public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments.
“Texas is where the American dream lives,” Abbott said upon signing 600 bills, including SB 10. “Today, I signed critical legislation passed in the 89th Regular Legislative Session that protects the safety of Texans and safeguards the individual freedoms that our great state was founded on. Working with the Texas Legislature, we will keep Texas the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”
Abbott also signed SB 11, a bill that allows schools to implement a policy allowing employees and students to voluntarily participate in a period of prayer.
According to the bill, a “public elementary or secondary school shall display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments that meets the requirements” described in the legislation, which include clear visibility and being at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall.
Upon filing the bill, State Senator Phil King (R) said the Ten Commandments are “part of our Texas and American story.”
“They are ingrained into who we are as a people and as a nation,” King said. “Today, our students cry out for the moral clarity, for the statement of right and wrong that they represent. If our students don’t know the Ten Commandments, they will never understand the foundation for much of American history and law.”
A similar law requiring the Ten Commandments in Louisiana public schools was blocked by a federal appeals court last week.
