Beliefs clash as Ten Commandments go up in Texas classrooms

DALLAS When it became clear to Texas high school theater teacher Gigi Cervantes that she couldn't ignore a new state law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in her Fort Worth classroom, she felt she had no choice. She resigned from the job she loved.

- JAMIE STENGLE

GIGI CERVANTES resigned rather than teach in a classroom where the Ten Commandments are hung.

In the small city of Whitesboro, eighth-grade U.S. history teacher Dustin Parsons welcomed the new poster on his classroom wall, saying the display helps him demonstrate the influence of Christianity on the country's founding principles.

Across Texas, there are no shortage of strong opinions among teachers, parents and students as the state undertakes the nation's largest attempt to hang the Ten Commandments in public schools. In the rush to navigate the Republican-led mandate that took effect in September, the rollout has forced some administrators, teachers and school boards to confront hard choices.

"I just was not going to be a part of forcing or imposing religious doctrine onto my students," Cervantes said.

Federal courts have ordered more than two dozen of the state's nearly 1,200 school districts to not hang the posters, including on Tuesday when a judge ruled that the mandate violates 1st Amendment language guaranteeing religious liberty and forbidding government establishment of religion. Courts have also ruled against similar laws in Arkansas and Louisiana, and the issue is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

But many Texas classrooms are far along in implementing a law that has animated school board meetings, spun up guidance about what to say when students ask questions, and led to boxes of donated posters being dropped on the doorsteps of campuses statewide.