Analysis of the choice for public and private education

In this paper we identify some of the icay factors which influence the decision to attend private school. We study the variation in private school attendance rates at thrfte levels of aggregation: among the different states within the United States; among unified school districts in California; and among census tracts within the San Francisco Bay Area. At each level 3f aggregation, we analyze which economic, social, religious, and ethnic characteristics of the groups being studied are significantly related to the private school choice. While other analyses have sought to provide a rationale for government support of private schools in terms of efficiency and fairness, we confine our attention to 'the task of identifying the factors which account for the varying rates of private school attendance and of estimating.the responsiVeness of private school kitten...mace to government support.