Ten Commandments Law Is Worse Than Worthless; It's Pandering
Up front, I want to say this: I have no problem with the Ten Commandments.
They're solid, as far as life rules go. Of course, there are at least seven different versions, there are more than 10 of them, and they make now-unnecessary references to things like graven images and the coveting of slaves. But if you need a handy list of how to keep yourself out of serious trouble, they'll do in a pinch.
The issue I take is not with the commandments themselves but with the recent bill signed by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry requiring every public school from elementary to high school to display a copy of the commandments in classrooms in "large, easily readable font" in a poster or framed picture at least 11 by 14 inches big.
Unlike the Ten Commandments, that Louisiana law is worthless.
No, it's worse than worthless. It uses God to pander and deceive, and it's a colossal waste of lawmakers' time. When the lawsuits start rolling in, and whoo boy will they ever, then it'll also become a colossal waste of the courts' time.
If the Supreme Court's majority comprised unbiased jurists instead of guys who fall asleep during argumentation and go home at the end of the day to avowed Trumpers, the law would certainly be found to be unconstitutional. And while that still may be the case (as brazen as the court gets, even they might have trouble justifying overturning a 1980 ruling prohibiting Kentucky schools from doing the exact thing Louisiana is proposing), it's no guarantee.
And, in the meantime, lawmakers in Baton Rouge have been busy throwing away their time and energy on a measure that does nothing to repair what is clearly a troubled educational system.
I went to a fantastic elementary school in New Orleans, one that wound up being among the 100 destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. After the natural disaster, Louisiana's school system was changed into a charter model, one that let higher-income students thrive in good schools and left economically disadvantaged kids in underfunded ones.
The hurricane's legacy and the resulting right-wing takeover of Louisiana's educational system show the rest of the nation what happens when Republican politicians run schools.
According to the Nation's Report Card, Louisiana fourth graders were "significantly below" the national averages in both math and reading in 2022, and eighth graders were "significantly below" in math (but only just lower than the national average in reading).
...continued
Copyright 2024 Creators Syndicate Inc.
