H.B. 269, which added the Ten Commandments to public schools’ list of historical documents and to the curriculum, went into effect on July 1.
The law states that “school curricula and activities shall include a thorough study of historical documents and principles such as: the Declaration of Independence; the United States Constitution; … the Ten Commandments.”
There were concerns among lawmakers that this was a violation of the First Amendment, which states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
The Bill’s sponsor, Rep. Michael J. Petersen, stated he felt the Ten Commandments are essential to US history.
“The Ten Commandments are fundamental to the development of this country,” said Petersen. “They are foundational to what the framers had in mind.”
Petersen explained that this list of commandments aided Founding Fathers such as Thomas Jefferson in drafting our nation’s historical documents.
“You look at the Ten Commandments. Those are just wonderful guideposts for society to live by,” Petersen said. “You know, the framers, many of them were religious. There were some who were not.”
Petersen said the focus of the law is historical and is giving students and teachers and opportunity to access these documents.
“History and American government teachers have a list of documents that we say you ought to teach from. The US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Pledge of Allegiance. There’s ten or 12 that are listed there. And I just simply said, ‘let’s add the Ten Commandments and the Magna Carta to that list,'” Peterson said.
Since the bill has gone into effect, school districts across the state are preparing for the new change.
Rich Stowell, Director of Communications at Alpine School District, said many people welcome the change.
“The district wants our state to have access to as many historical documents as are appropriate and to contend with a wide array of viewpoints that as they learn about the things that mention government, civics, ethics and history and not (have to) be confined to look at any of those things with a narrower set of historical sources,” Stowell said. “Our first duty is to provide the type of education that our parents expect and demand from the public school system.”
Despite the controversy surrounding the law, Stowell said his district doesn’t anticipate much of a change in the classroom. He said the bill gives educators another resource to draw from in order to educate their students.
“In a historical context, they’ll be able to access a wider array of documents without fear of wondering whether it’s appropriate or not,” Stowell said. “Both those documents (the Magna Carta and the Ten Commandments) would be a valuable resource.”
