Signs with the national motto are sprouting up in schools across the state.
Now, an out-of-state activist is working to exploit a loophole in the state law that mandates the signs.
Under the law, which has actually been in effect for more than a year but is just now coming to the forefront, schools are required to conspicuously display posters with the national motto, "In God We Trust," as long as they're privately donated and it contains only those words, along with the American and Texas flags.
However, the law does not specifically state that the words have to be in English.
Therefore, Chaz Stevens, an activist from Florida, is donating signs that say "In God We Trust" -- in Arabic.
Stevens says he hopes to donate 500 of the Arabic-language signs to schools throughout Texas.
UNT political science professor Dr. Kimi King says a court will likely be tasked with making a call as to whether those signs would be required to be conspicuously displayed in schools too.
"You can make an argument that the plain intention of the statute, because it's listed in English, was for it to be in English," says Dr. King. "Part of the legal challenges that come out of this will probably be to also challenge just the very law itself."
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