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

Still, Price has donated more than $2 million since 2023 to Republican candidates and political action committees promoting school choice, according to The Washington Post. —Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 9 Apr. 2026

Reforms like expanding school choice? —Opinion Staff, Oc Register, 7 Apr. 2026

Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill contained a new federal school choice initiative. —Editorial, Boston Herald, 4 Apr. 2026

In a statement, acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock said the program set a national record for first-year demand for a school choice program. —Silas Allen, Dallas Morning News, 3 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1988, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for school choice

• rejoice
• voice