Ayasha Husseini Mrs. Johnson AC ELA 8th grade May 7, 2014Prayer in Public Schools"I do not believe that any type of religion should ever be introduced into public schools in the UNITED STATES." -Thomas Edison. Religion and prayer in public schools is a major controversy for schools in the United States. School officials cannot take sides on religion because that would violate the First Amendment which states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." . » Establishing a specific religion in public school violates the First Amendment, which is why public schools must remain neutral in matters of religion. Some people believe that teaching religion should not be allowed because it violates the separation of church and state, but that is not true. There are many issues regarding religion in public schools, but exercising your personal religion independently is not one of them. (Leitch, 1) Many believe that public schools are meant to educate, not proselytize. Mixing religion and school is not appropriate since school is public and religion private. Public schools are open to everyone, whether Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, atheist or Christian. (Gaylor) People of all religions pay taxes to fund school; therefore, it is not appropriate to impose a specific religion on all students. Your personal religion is your decision; the government and schools cannot intervene. It is unconstitutional for the government to decide your religion for you. Government-mandated prayer would violate religious freedom because it imposes a certain religion on all students. Allowing students...... middle of sheet ......est, Jr., Clifford B. Stearns and Strom Thurmond. "Should a School Prayer Constitutional Amendment Be Approved by Congress? PRO." EBSCO host. MAS Ultra - School edition, sd Web. March 10, 2014. Kynaston, David and George Kynaston. “Berlin Wall Education”. New Statesman 143.4 (2014): 22-29. Literary reference center. Leitch, Keith A. “School Prayer.” Dictionary of American History. Student Resources in Context, 2003. 265-266. web .Lofaso, Anne Marie. Religion in Public Schools: A Roadmap to Avoiding Lawsuits and Respecting Parents' Legal Rights. . Washington, DC: Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, 2009. Web. .Religion in public schools-Prayer in public schools. March 28, 2014. RELIGION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS BACKGROUND – RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN AMERICA AND OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Third Avenue, New York: Anti-Defamation League, 2012. Web.