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Midway through June, the state of Louisiana made a splashy addition to the ongoing debate over religious freedom in education by passing a law that will require public schools to display a copy of the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
The new law raises questions about past rulings on the Ten Commandments, related policy proposals in states like Utah and the First Amendment’s establishment clause.
Not to be outdone by its neighbor to the southeast, Oklahoma brought even more questions about religious freedom in education to the fore last week by announcing that all public schools in the state will be required to teach the Ten Commandments and the Bible more broadly.
“It was not immediately clear how the Bible would be taught or what instructional standards around it would require. A memo to Oklahoma school districts from (state superintendent Ryan) Walters’s office said schools ‘are required to incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments,’ into curriculum for fifth through 12th grades, effective immediately,” according to The Washington Post .