How a Christian Nationalist Group is Getting the Ten Commandments into Classrooms
There鈥檚 an innate tension between school safety and students鈥� civil rights. The 74鈥檚 Mark Keierleber keeps you up to date on the news you need to know
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As far-right political operative David Barton leads a Christian nationalist crusade, he鈥檚 traveled to state capitols across the country this year to support in classrooms.
My latest story digs into a well-coordinated and deep-pocketed campaign to inject Protestant Christianity into public schools that could carry broader implications for students鈥� First Amendment rights. Through a data analysis of this year, I show how Barton鈥檚 role runs far deeper than just being their primary pitchman.
The analysis reveals how the language, structure and requirements of these bills nationwide are inherently identical. Time and again, state legislation took language verbatim from a Barton-led lobbying blitz to reshape the nation鈥檚 laws around claims 鈥� routinely debunked 鈥� about Christianity鈥檚 role in the country鈥檚 founding and its early public education system.
Three new state laws in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas mandating Ten Commandments posters in public schools are designed to challenge a 1980 Supreme Court ruling against such government-required displays in classrooms. GOP state lawmakers embracing these laws have expressed support for eradicating the separation of church and state 鈥� a pursuit critics fear will coerce students and take away their own religious freedom.
In the news
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- As the Department of Homeland Security conducts what it calls wellness checks on unaccompanied minors, the young people who migrated to the U.S. without their parents 鈥渁re just terrified.鈥� |聽
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- The Department of Homeland Security is investigating surveillance camera footage purportedly showing federal immigration officers urinating on the grounds of a Pico Rivera, California, high school in broad daylight. |聽
- California sued the Trump administration after it withheld some $121 million in education funds for a program designed to help the children of migrant farmworkers catch up academically. |聽
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- Legal pushback:聽Parents, Head Start providers challenge new rule barring undocumented families. |聽
The executive director of Camp Mystic in Texas didn鈥檛 begin evacuations for more than an hour after he received a severe flood warning from the National Weather Service. The ensuing tragedy killed 27 counselors and campers. |
The day after the Supreme Court allowed the Education Department’s dismantling, Secretary Linda McMahon went ahead with plans to move key programs. |
- Now, with fewer staff, the Office for Civil Rights is pursuing a smaller caseload. During a three-month period between March and June, the agency dismissed 3,424 civil rights complaints. |
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Massachusetts legislation seeks to ban anyone under the age of 18 from working in the state鈥檚 seafood processing facilities after an investigation exposed the factories routinely employed migrant youth in unsafe conditions. |
An end to a deadly trend: School shootings decreased 22% during the 2024-25 school year compared to a year earlier after reaching all-time highs for three years in a row. |
Florida is the first state to require all high school student athletes to undergo electrocardiograms in a bid to detect heart conditions. |
The Senate dropped rules from Trump鈥檚 鈥渂ig, beautiful鈥� tax-and-spending bill that would have prevented states from regulating artificial intelligence tools, including those used in schools. |
- Food stamps are another matter: The federal SNAP program will be cut by about a fifth over the next decade, taking away at least some nutrition benefits from at least 800,000 low-income children. |
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