Texas teachers are sharing ways they’re fighting back against the Ten Commandments classroom law

When Texas lawmakers passed a bill requiring every classroom to display the Ten Commandments, educators knew controversy would follow. The law, signed earlier this summer, mandated that a 16-by-20-inch framed copy of the biblical text hang prominently in every public school classroom. Almost immediately, lawsuits poured in.

Texas’ Ten Commandments law blocked in court

Texas became the third state in two years to pass such a law, following similar efforts in Arkansas and Louisiana. Like those states, it faced legal challenges almost immediately. Families from multiple religious traditions sued, arguing the mandate violated their children’s constitutional rights.

The families cited the 1980 Supreme Court case Stone v. Graham, which struck down a Kentucky statute that required the same display. The Court found the law breached the Establishment Clause by promoting religion in public schools. Plaintiffs in Texas said their children would be “forcibly subjected to scriptural dictates, day in and day out.”

On Wednesday, Aug 20. 2025, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued a preliminary injunction in Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District. According to CBS, the ruling temporarily blocked the law, which was set to take effect on Sep. 1. Judge Biery stated the measure likely violated both the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment.

For now, the injunction halts any effort to enforce the display requirement. Yet even with the pause, teachers had already begun considering how they would handle the mandate if it were enforced.

Teachers responded with defiance and creativity

Educators on social media began sharing strategies for navigating the controversial law. Some leaned on direct defiance. Redditor u/Other-Experience-777 wrote, “I will never post the 10 commandments in my classroom. I will instead post the 1st amendment with a brief summary of the 1980s supreme court case stone vs graham detailing what happened in this very instance.”

Others leaned into satire. u/alpineflamingo2 mocked the statute’s requirement that the commandments be “legible” by sharing them typed entirely in the Wingdings font, urging fellow teachers to copy-paste the version for their walls.

More elaborate suggestions also surfaced. u/Annual-Guitar-9070 described a plan to display the Ten Commandments alongside teachings from a wide array of global traditions. Their list included the Buddhist Five Precepts, the Islamic Pillars of Faith, the Hindu Yamas and Niyamas, the Native American Seven Grandfather Teachings, and more.

They even proposed adding a spaghetti strainer, a nod to the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. According to the Redditor, the point was to highlight multiple faith traditions equally, in identical fonts and sizes.

These responses revealed a pattern: educators felt the law’s rigidity forced them into either open resistance or satirical compliance. Even those working in heavily Christian, conservative communities voiced discomfort with enforcing one specific religious tradition in public classrooms.

Broader frustrations about priorities in Texas schools

While many teachers discussed ways to subvert or resist the mandate, others pointed out what they saw as larger systemic failures in the state’s education system.

In response to the Daily Dot’s request for comment, u/Significant-Jello411 said, “This state is eternally worried about the wrong things, why don’t we focus on how we’re in the bottom half of states when it comes to education.”

u/Other-Experience-777 added in a comment to the Daily Dot, “I don’t believe I should be forced to put up the Ten Commandments in my classroom even if state law dictates it because it’s a direct violation of my 1st amendment right as a citizen of the United States.”

“The way I see it even if state laws tries to take away my rights I am still protected at a federal level. There is a court case from 1980s which I have posted that sets that [precedent]. I would encourage my fellow teachers to stand in solidarity by refusing to follow along with the ridiculous law.”

Educators expressed concern that lawmakers focused on religious displays instead of addressing low funding, teacher shortages, and declining student outcomes. According to many teachers, hanging the Ten Commandments would do little to improve classrooms struggling with overcrowding, outdated materials, or stagnant wages.

u/alpineflamingo2 and u/Annual-Guitar-9070 did not respond immediately to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via Reddit DM.