RALEIGH—Schools would be allowed to display the Ten Commandments on classroom walls under an amendment House Republicans successfully attached to a Senate bill Wednesday.
The bill, approved in a 101-15 vote, was first crafted by Senate Democrats to require school systems to adopt dress codes and include a character education component in their curriculums.
But when the bill moved onto the House floor Wednesday, Republicans saw an opening to force votes on related issues that they had been pushing.
Rep. Don Davis, R-Harnett, filed the amendment adding language on the Ten Commandments. It would allow display of Biblical tenets on any school property, although requiring that it be displayed in the same manner as "other documents of historical significance."
Rep. Paul Luebke, D-Durham, said the House was passing legislation that would violate the separation of church and state.
But even before the vote he recognized it was going to pass, saying "it's hard not to be in favor of apple pie."
Following the vote, Davis said he believes it would meet constitutional muster because the legislation requires any displays to be put into a historical context.
"The Ten Commandments doesn't support one type of religion over another," Davis said. "The Ten Commandments was the basis upon which this country was founded."
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that a Ten Commandments display in front of the municipal building in Indiana violated the constitutional boundaries between church and state.
Wilkes County officials also agreed to remove a display of the Ten Commandments in their courthouse after the American Civil Liberties Union and a resident of the county sued.
South Dakota passed a law last year allowing display of the Ten Commandments, but schools there have been reluctant to put up the tenants because of the threat of a lawsuit.
Rep. Russell Capps, R-Wake, also sponsored an amendment to put a more stringent dress code requirement in the legislation.
While the Senate bill had only required that a dress code be adopted, Capps' change would require that school dress not "disrupt the learning environment." Teachers and other school employees also couldn't dress in ways that disrupted learning.
The legislation now goes back to the Senate for consideration.