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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Eligibility for those school choice programs is universal in a dozen states. —

Patrick Gleason, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025 Patrick has named school choice his top priority come January. —

Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Jan. 2025 Opponents say that school vouchers, education saving accounts and other school choice programs hurt public schools and the kids who attend them. —

Kayla Jimenez, USA TODAY, 21 Nov. 2024 Other state measures affected wages, taxes and education, including a school choice measure that was defeated in Kentucky. —

David A. Lieb, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for school choice

Word History

First Known Use

1988, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of school choice was in 1988

See more words from the same year

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Style

“School choice.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/school%20choice. Accessed 19 Jan. 2025.

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