Education Week - May 29, 2024 - 2

Ten Commandments
On Way to Becoming
Pinup in La. Classes
Louisiana is on the brink of ordering schools and
universities to return to the days when the Ten Commandments
were routinely posted in classrooms. If
signed by the Republican governor, it becomes the
first state to mandate that action.
State senators passed the legislation 30-8 this month
following a short debate, with Democrats on the losing
side.
" The purpose is not solely religious, " declared Sen.
J. Adam Bass, a Republican. Rather, it is the Ten Commandments'
" historical significance, which is simply
one of many documents that display the history of our
country and foundation of our legal system. "
Only one lawmaker, Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat,
who identified himself as a practicing Catholic,
spoke in opposition to the measure.
" I didn't have to learn the Ten Commandments in
school. We went to Sunday school, " he said. " You want
your kids to learn about the Ten Commandments,
take them to church. "
He added that the bill could potentially open the
state up to lawsuits. Opponents are concerned the legislation
violates the First Amendment, which prohibits
the government from establishing a religion.
" We're going to spend valuable state resources defending
the law when we really need to be teaching
our kids how to read and write, " Duplessis said. " I
don't think this is appropriate for us to mandate. "
During a debate in the lower chamber last month,
the bill's sponsor, Rep. Dodie Horton, maintained that
the Ten Commandments are the " basis of all laws in
Louisiana " and that the legislation honors the country's
religious origins.
" I'm not concerned with an atheist. I'm not concerned
with a Muslim, " she said when asked about
teachers who might not subscribe to the Ten Commandments.
" I'm concerned with our children looking
and seeing what God's law is. "
Its passage highlights the increasingly blurry divide
between church and state that's become more common
in several Republican-led states.
At least one other state, Utah, is also considering
legislation that would require schools to display the
Ten Commandments in classrooms. Texas proposed
a similar bill in 2023, but it failed to receive a vote by
the House before a crucial deadline.
Maryland District Can Reject Parental Opt-Outs
On LGBTQ+ Books, Federal Appeals Court Rules
A federal appeals court has refused to block a Maryland school
district's policy preventing parents from opting their children out
of LGBTQ+ inclusive " storybooks " used in the elementary English/language
arts curriculum.
In 2022, the Montgomery County school system approved books
such as Pride Puppy!, My Rainbow; and Uncle Bobby's Wedding to
help teach reading to students as young as prekindergarten. Court
papers said the books were not meant to explicitly teach about gender
identity and sexual orientation but to be a classroom option
for students to discover and for teachers to recommend to some
students.
Some Christian and Muslim parents, among others, objected
to the books as age-inappropriate and infringing on their rights to
raise their children. During the 2022-23 school year, parents were
given notice and the chance to opt their children out of exposure
to the books.
But beginning with the current school year, the district ended
that option. School officials said in court papers that there were
a high number of opt-out requests and a burden on school staff
members to remember which students could have access to the
books and which could not, among other concerns. The district believes
that " representation in the curriculum creates and normalizes
a fully inclusive environment for all students, " it said in a brief.
Besides helping with language skills, " the storybooks support
students' ability to empathize, connect, and collaborate with diverse
peers and encourage respect for all, " the district said.
" We conclude that the parents have not come forward at this
stage with sufficient evidence of a cognizable burden on their free
exercise rights to satisfy the requirements of a free exercise claim, "
says the majority opinion handed down this month by Judge G.
Steven Agee. " What is missing here is the evidentiary link showing
that the storybooks are being implemented in a way that directly
or indirectly coerces the parents or their children to believe or act
contrary to their religious faith. "
The plantiffs indicated they intend to appeal the ruling.
Chilling
Lessons
A student eats shaved
ice after school lets out
in Lahore, Pakistan,
where authorities the
week of May 21, 2024 cut
school hours because
of soaring temperatures.
Residents were urged
to stay indoors as the
country was hit by an
extreme heat wave and
yet another round of
glacial-driven floods.
Uvalde Shooting Victims' Families Sue State Police,
Settle With City for $2 Million
The families of 19 of the victims in the Uvalde elementary school
shooting in Texas are suing nearly 100 state police officers who
were part of the botched law enforcement response.
The families said in a statement that they also agreed to a $2 million
settlement with the city of Uvalde, under which city leaders
promised higher standards and better training for local police.
The announcement came two days before the second anniversary
of one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
Nineteen 4th graders and two teachers were killed on May 24,
2022, when a teenage gunman burst into their classroom at Robb
Elementary School and began shooting.
The lawsuit is the latest of several seeking accountability for the
law enforcement response. More than 370 federal, state, and local
officers converged on the scene, but they waited more than 70 minutes
before confronting the shooter.
It is the first lawsuit to come after a 600-page Justice Department
report was released in January that cataloged " cascading
failures " in training, communication, leadership, and technology
problems that day.
The lawsuit notes state troopers did not follow their active
shooter training and responsibility to confront the shooter,
even as the students and teachers inside were following their
own lockdown protocols of turning off lights, locking doors, and
staying silent.
" The protocols trap teachers and students inside, leaving them
fully reliant on law enforcement to respond quickly and effectively, "
the families and their attorneys said in a statement.
Terrified students inside the classroom called 911 as agonized parents
begged officers, some of whom could hear shots being fired
while they stood in a hallway, to go in. A tactical team of officers
eventually went into the classroom and killed the shooter.
" Law enforcement's inaction that day was a complete and absolute
betrayal of these families and the sons, daughters, and mothers they
lost, " said Erin Rogiers, one of the attorneys for the families. " TXDPS
had the resources, training, and firepower to respond appropriately,
and they ignored all of it and failed on every level. These families have
not only the right but also the responsibility to demand justice. "
A criminal investigation into the police response by Uvalde district
attorney Christina Mitchell's office remains ongoing. A grand jury
was summoned this year, and some law enforcement officials have
already been called to testify.
BRIEFLY STATED CONTRIBUTORS: Associated Press, Libby Stanford, Tribune News Service, and Mark Walsh. Edited by Karen Diegmueller.
2 | EDUCATION WEEK | May 29, 2024 | www.edweek.org
K.M. Chaudary/AP

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