Louisiana has become the first state in the U.S. to require the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom after a bill was signed into law by GOP Governor Jeff Landry on Wednesday.
The law mandates that a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” be required in all public classrooms, from kindergarten all the way up to state-funded universities.
However, critics of the bill passing have questioned the law’s constitutionality and cited “separation of church and state,” warning that lawsuits will most likely follow.
Meanwhile, supporters of the new law argue that the measure is not only beneficial to one’s life decisions, but that it will be in place in order to display historical significance. Supporters maintain that the Ten Commandments are “foundational documents of our state and national government.”
“The posters, which will be paired with a four-paragraph ‘context statement’ describing how the Ten Commandments ‘were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries,’ must be in place in classrooms by the start of 2025,” according to AP News.
The posters would also purportedly be “funded through donations,” and state funds would not be used to implement the mandate.
Additionally, the law “authorizes” but does not require the display of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance in K-12 public schools.
