school choice

noun

US : a program or policy in which students are given the choice to use public funds to attend a school other than their district's public school (as at a charter school, private school, home school, or at a public school in a different district)

Voucher plans were adopted largely as a last resort, an effort to guarantee a semblance of school choice for low-income minority students in failing inner-city schools.

—Jeffrey Rosen

To be sure, even their most enthusiastic defenders acknowledge that many public schools, especially in big cities are riven with serious problems. The debate over "school choice" and tax vouchers for private schools illustrates the widespread discontent with public schools.

—Dirk Johnson

Examples of school choice in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Diaz has been a key player in reshaping Florida’s education system, pushing policies that expanded school choice, curtailed diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and placing restrictions on discussions of gender identity and race in classrooms. —Garrett Shanley, Miami Herald, 23 May 2025

Read more: Why parents who moved kids to alternative schools amid pandemic are keeping them there Since the start of his second term, President Donald Trump has made expanding school choice a top priority. —Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 23 May 2025

Yet school choice isn’t the only marquee conservative reform that might finally get to Governor Abbott’s desk this year after being stymied in the Texas House for the better part of a decade. —Patrick Gleason, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025

Over the last two decades, school choice has had a tremendous impact on Florida, with over 500,000 students participating this year. —Moshe Matz, Sun Sentinel, 13 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1988, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for school choice

• rejoice
• voice