Dive Brief:
- A Louisiana bill that would require all public K-12 schools and higher education institutions to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom is poised to be the first such measure passed in the U.S.
- The Republican-led measure passed in the Louisiana Senate in a 30-8 vote on Thursday and awaits final House action before going to the governor for signature.
- Other states such as Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and South Carolina have recently considered or approved bills involving the Ten Commandments in schools.
Dive Insight:
Louisiana’s Ten Commandments bill is inching closer to enactment as the role of religion in public schools continues to be the subject of state legislation and legal action. If enacted, the Louisiana bill could face challenges in court, as well.
Under the bill, schools and colleges in Louisiana would have to display the Ten Commandments in a poster or framed document measuring at least 11 inches by 14 inches, with the text printed in a large and easily readable font and presented as the main focal point.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 1980 struck down as unconstitutional a Kentucky law requiring all public schools to post the Ten Commandments in each classroom. In a 5-4 ruling in Stone v. Graham, the justices found the law violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause, served “no secular legislative purpose,” and was “plainly religious in nature.”
In March, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed amended legislation adding the Ten Commandments to the list of documents that may be thoroughly studied in schools. An initial version of the bill would have required public schools to post the Ten Commandments.
A similar requirement for public schools to display the Ten Commandments was proposed in the Oklahoma Legislature in February but has since stalled. Last year, state legislatures in South Carolina and Texas also failed to pass similar measures.
At the same time, a significant number of states are considering bills that would allow religious chaplains in schools to offer mental health support. As of March, 14 states had introduced school chaplain bills in 2024, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah, according to the Interfaith Alliance, an organization advocating for religious freedom and democracy.
This follows enactment of a law in Texas last September requiring school boards to decide whether to bring chaplains into schools for student support services. In April, Florida passed a similar law allowing schools to let voluntary chaplains offer counseling support to students with written parental consent.
And in Oklahoma, the first-ever religious public charter school in the nation won contract approval in Oklahoma in October. The Oklahoma Supreme Court is currently considering a challenge to the creation of the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School.