We investigate how key school and community characteristics interact with t
he characteristics of individual students and families in determining the e
nrollment patterns in public and private schools. Using unique, nationally-
representative, individual-level data, we find evidence that a number of fa
ctors plausibly influenced by public policy (e.g., school-district concentr
ation, student-teacher ratios, and local violent crime rates) have powerful
effects on the composition of public and private schools. (C) 2000 Academi
c Press.