Alabama House passes bill requiring Ten Commandments displays in K-12 schools
Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Hokes Bluff, listens to a presentation in the Alabama House of Representatives on April 3, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Gidley's bill that would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public K-12 schools passed the House on April 17, 2025.
The Alabama House of Representatives Thursday passed a bill requiring public K-12 schools to display the Ten Commandments.
HB 178, sponsored by Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Hokes Bluff, passed the chamber 88-11. It requires schools to display the Ten Commandments in an entry way; a common area an entry way or common areas like cafeterias, and in classrooms where the history of the United States is taught. The displays must be at least 11-by-14 inches in size and include text saying the commandments are 'a key part of the Judeo-Christian religious and moral tradition that shaped Western Civilization and ultimately the founding of the United States,' as well as other arguments claiming they are foundational texts.
Displays would be made based on the availability of donations for them.
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Gidley, a pastor, said in the House Thursday that the country was founded on the principles of the Hebrew-derevied text, which makes it historical.
'This is about returning foundational principles to schools to be taught,' he said.
Alabama voters in 2018 approved a constitutional amendment allowing the Ten Commandments to be displayed on public property but not mandating such displays. Federal courts have allowed the displays of the Ten Commandments in historical contexts in schools but not as religious or moral displays. Local school boards do not have to use their state-allocated funds to purchase a poster to display, Gidley said.
The legislation does not list any sanctions for schools that do not comply.
Louisiana passed similar legislation in 2024, but a federal district court ruled it unconstitutional in November, citing the separation of church and state. Louisiana's law, unlike Gidley's, required the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom.
Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Pleasant Grove, was the only Democrat to support the legislation. Sellers, pastor of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Birmingham, said the values in the Ten Commandments should be in schools.
'These are principles that our children need, and even if it's just looking at it on the wall to remind them of what they are and how they should live from day to day,' Sellers said. 'That's what's missing in our schools. That's what's missing in our homes, that's what's missing in our families.'
Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, supported the legislation, but said putting the Ten Commandments in schools would not make more Christians.
'As a Christian, we should be salt and light in the world. And I think that happens through relationships,' Garrett said. 'But legislative mandates are not going to renew minds and change hearts.'
Rep. Marilyn Lands, D-Huntsville, said some of the commandments may not be age appropriate for young school children.
'I think that the 10 commandments have their place, but I don't know that we need to mandate that they be in our schools,' she said. 'I think we teach our children well in our homes, and I think we have churches to teach them, but I'm not sure that they belong in our schools.'
Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, said putting the Christian text in schools would disrespect other religions.
'All I am saying is there are other faiths, those people deserve to practice whatever faith you practice,' Moore said.
The bill moves to the Senate. Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, has a companion bill that was approved by the Senate Education Policy Committee last week.
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