Ten Commandments Legislation Update: Lawsuits Expand Across Texas

The controversy surrounding Senate Bill 10, the Texas law requiring every public school classroom to display the Ten Commandments, shows no sign of slowing down.

Fourteen additional school districts are now facing lawsuits over the mandate, broadening what was already one of the most closely watched education-related legal battles in the state.

From the beginning, SB 10 was expected to spark constitutional challenges. When the bill passed in the Senate earlier this year, we highlighted the potential clash between state lawmakers' religious agenda and long-standing federal protections around freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. That tension quickly became reality as districts scrambled to implement the requirement. Some administrators hesitated to post the Ten Commandments at all, uncertain whether doing so would expose them to lawsuits. Others complied immediately, only to find themselves in court soon after.

Federal judges have already stepped in. As we noted in The Hotline last month, a judge temporarily blocked SB 10 in certain districts, leaving school leaders across Texas unsure of what rules actually apply to them. This uneven enforcement has produced confusion and inconsistency from district to district, while also raising the stakes for families and educators caught in the middle.

The latest lawsuits, spanning fourteen more districts, signal that the legal battle is expanding in both scale and intensity. Each new case increases the chances that appellate courts, or even the U.S. Supreme Court, will be forced to weigh in. Such a ruling could have far-reaching consequences not just for Texas, but for public schools nationwide.

Texas AFT will continue to monitor developments closely, keeping members informed of their rights and the shifting legal landscape. As of right now, the law is prohibited from being implemented in the following 25 school districts:

• Comal ISD
• Georgetown ISD
• Conroe ISD
• Flour Bluff ISD
• Fort Worth ISD
• Arlington ISD
• McKinney ISD
• Frisco ISD
• Northwest ISD
• Azle ISD
• Rockwall ISD
• Lovejoy ISD
• Mansfield ISD
• McAllen ISD
• Alamo Heights ISD
• North East ISD
• Lackland ISD
• Northside ISD
• Austin ISD
• Lake Travis ISD
• Dripping Springs ISD
• Houston ISD
• Fort Bend ISD
• Cypress Fairbanks ISD
• Plano ISD