Texas Schools Post Ten Commandments Under State Law
Classrooms across Texas are displaying the Ten Commandments under a law passed last year, while the U.S. Supreme Court weighs whether to take up a challenge.
Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Law
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Posters displaying the Ten Commandments are going up in public school classrooms across Texas under a state law passed last year. Advocacy groups have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the law, and the Court has not yet said whether it will take the case.
Why it matters
The Texas law tests whether the Ten Commandments can be displayed in public classrooms despite a First Amendment ban on government establishment of religion, a question tied to the Supreme Court's 1980 ruling against a Kentucky law. Texas is one of four states that passed similar laws in recent months.
The Texas law requires a King James Bible version of the Ten Commandments to be posted conspicuously in every public school classroom, and schools must post donated copies. A conservative Christian group has launched a digital tracker using public tips to monitor compliance across the state's 9,000 public schools.
The players
U.S. Supreme Court
The nation's highest court, which in 1980 struck down a Kentucky law requiring Ten Commandments posters and has been asked to review the Texas law.
Salado Independent School District
A Texas school district about 50 miles north of Austin with roughly 2,800 students, whose superintendent has commented on implementing the posting requirement.
The details
The law does not require districts to buy the posters but requires them to display donated copies. More than a dozen Texas families of multiple faiths have asked the court to block the law, while websites are selling alternate posters such as the Five Precepts of Buddhism and the United Nations' Declaration of Human Rights.
Timeline
1980: Supreme Court struck down a Kentucky Ten Commandments posting law.
2022: Supreme Court replaced the secular purpose standard with a history and tradition test.
2024: Louisiana passed the first state Ten Commandments classroom law.
Last year (2025): Texas passed its classroom posting law.
Earlier this year (2026): The Texas law survived lower-court challenges.
Legal Context
The Supreme Court's 1980 ruling struck down Kentucky's Ten Commandments posting law as unconstitutional, and the Court's 2022 shift to a history-and-tradition test now gives Texas's backers a different legal framework. Texas is one of four states whose laws are testing whether that precedent still holds.
Texas families will see Ten Commandments posters in classrooms, and parents of students of any faith may have to decide whether to challenge the displays. Schools must post donated copies, so the practical effect depends on whether donations arrive and how districts respond.
The takeaway
Whether the Ten Commandments belong in public classrooms now depends on how courts apply the Supreme Court's shifting standards, so readers should watch whether the Court agrees to hear the case.
Further reading
Explore more on the legal fight over religion in schools in our Law section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by ArkansasOnline.
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Should public schools be required to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms?
