In Board of Education v. Allen (1968) 392 U.S. 236, a law of the State of New York required local public school authorities to loan textbooks free of charge to all students in grades seven through twelve. Students in private schools were included. The case presented the question as to whether the statute was a "'law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,'" (p. 238) and thus in conflict with the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution since it authorized the loan of textbooks to students attending parochial schools. The Supreme Court held the law was not a violation of the Constitution. The books were "textbooks which are designated for use in any public, "elementary or secondary schools of the state or are approved by any boards of education,. . . " ( P. 239) "The express purpose of. . . the law was stated by the New York Legislature to be furtherance of the educational opportunities available to the young. Appellants have shown us nothing about the necessary effects of the statute that is contrary to its stated purpose. The law merely makes available to all children the benefits of a general program to lend school books free of charge. Books are furnished at the request of the pupil and ownership remains, at least technically, in the state. Thus no funds or books are furnished to parochial schools, and the financial benefit is to parents and children, not to schools. Perhaps free books make it more likely that some children choose to attend a sectarian school, but that was true of the state-paid bus fares in Everson v. Board of Education (1947) 330 U.S. 1 and does not alone demonstrate an unconstitutional degree of support for a religious institution. . . . ( Pp. 243, 244.) The major reason offered by appellants for distinguishing free textbooks from free bus fares is that books, but not buses, are critical to the teaching process, and in a sectarian school that process is employed to teach religion. However, this court has long recognized that religious schools pursue two goals, religious instructions and secular education." ( Pp. 243-245.)