“Nothing in the First Amendment converts our public schools into religion-free zones, or requires all religious expression to be left behind at the schoolhouse door.” — President Bill Clinton in a letter sent to all school districts in the United States (1995). Write a one- to two-paragraph response either supporting or refuting the statement, being sure to include references to the landmark cases mentioned in the background essay.

On one hand, the Supreme Court has long held that public schools could not enforce prayers or even moments of silence, because they represented religious coercion and an establishment of religion by the state. This, of course, violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Some of the landmark cases involving the Establishment Clause include Engel v. Vitale (1962), Wallace v. Jaffree (1985), and Lee v. Weisman (1992). On the other hand, the Court has also ruled, along the lines suggested by Clinton's quote, that schools cannot prohibit the free exercise of religion by students. Students are free to engage in religious discussion, read religious texts, and pray (and lead prayers) as long as they do not use school time to proselytize or prevail on school authorities to coerce prayer or other religious rituals. The key point is that they do not try to use the school, which is a government institution, to establish their faith. In Good News Club v. Milford Central School (2001), for example, the Court ruled that religious clubs had the right to meet on school grounds (after school hours) because other secular clubs were afforded that opportunity. The right of students to express their religious beliefs in school assignments has also been upheld (though not by a Supreme Court decision). Ultimately, the principle established for student speech and expression by the Court in Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) holds for religion as well. Students do not "shed their constitutional rights . . . at the schoolhouse gate," even though schools can place reasonable restrictions on them when doing so is essential to the educational mission. So, in short, President Clinton's statement is correct.
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/schoolprayer.html

https://billofrightsinstitute.org/cases/

https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-of-religion/religious-liberty-in-public-schools/school-prayer/