School choice glossary

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See also: School choice in the United States, Impact of school choice on rural school districts

What is school choice?
School choice is a term that refers to programs offering alternatives to assigned local public school options. The three main categories of school choice are:

• Public school choice. The main types of public school choice options are open enrollment policies, magnet schools, and charter schools.
• Private school choice. The main types of private school choice are school vouchers, scholarship tax credits, and education savings accounts (ESAs).
• Homeschooling. This option refers to children being educated at home with their parents or joining homeschool groups or coalitions.

Why does it matter?
At least 33 states run private school choice programs, and at least 47 states have public school choice policies; many states have both, and all states allow for homeschooling. These programs and policies differ significantly in terms of how they are administered, how they are funded, the requirements placed on public school districts, and other aspects. Stakeholders, including teachers, families, school administrators, school boards, and lawmakers, hold differing opinions regarding the educational outcomes and financial implications of various school choice programs and policies.

The laws and regulations, administrative guidance, academic articles and research, and media coverage surrounding school choice use many established terms and phrases to describe certain specific policies and arguments, refer to certain historical events or cases, and lay out the different features of how each state or district handles school choice.

What's on this page?
This is a glossary of terms related to school choice, containing the following sections:

• Types of school choice
• Private school choice programs
• Public school choice
• Homeschooling
• Terms related to policy surrounding school choice

Types of school choice

This section defines the main educational options for students in the United States.

• Private school choice

  Private school choice programs provide families with public funds to attend private schools or pay for homeschool expenses. For more additional information about the types of private school choice programs, visit this section.

• Public school choice

  Public school choice programs offer alternatives to assigned local public school options. The main types of public school choice options are open enrollment policies, magnet schools, and charter schools.

• Homeschooling

  Homeschooling refers to the practice of children being educated at home under the supervision of their parents. Under some school choice policies, homeschoolers can use certain private school choice funds for purchasing curricular materials or to pay for educational activities or opportunities. Some states regard homeschooling as a private school choice option, while others regard it as an extension of public school options.

Private school choice programs

See also: School choice in the United States

• Education savings accounts

  Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) allow families to receive a deposit of public funds into government-authorized private savings accounts for use on approved educational expenses.

• Individual K–12 Tax Credits

  Tax credits and deductions allow parents to receive state income tax relief for approved educational expenses, which can include private school tuition, books, supplies, computers, tutors, and transportation. Tax credits lower the total taxes a person owes, while a deduction reduces a person’s total taxable income.

• Individual K–12 Tax Deductions

  Tax deductions allow parents to receive state income tax relief for approved educational expenses, which can include private school tuition, books, supplies, computers, tutors, and transportation. Tax deductions reduce a person’s total taxable income.

• Limited private school choice

  Limited private school choice programs are one for which not all students are eligible. Eligibility criteria generally include family income below a certain threshold, experience of disability or special needs, or being zoned for a public school deemed to be failing.

• Tax-credit scholarships

  Tax-credit scholarships allow taxpayers to receive full or partial tax credits when they donate to nonprofits that provide private school scholarships. Eligible taxpayers can include both individuals and businesses.

• Tax-Credit Education Savings Accounts (ESAs)

  Tax-credit ESAs allow taxpayers to receive full or partial tax credits when they donate to nonprofit organizations that fund and manage parent-directed K-12 education savings accounts.

• Universal private school choice

  Universal school choice programs provide public funds for alternatives to public schools, such as private schools and homeschooling, and are designed for all students to qualify.

• Vouchers

  Vouchers are redeemable funds that pay for eligible students to attend private schools, though the money typically goes directly from the government to the school. Opponents of private school choice typically refer to such programs as vouchers regardless of the program type.

Public school choice

See also: Charter schools, Magnet schools, Homeschooling

• Charter schools

  Charter schools are a category of tuition-free, publicly-funded, independently run schools. These schools are exempt from many of the requirements imposed by state and local boards of education regarding hiring and curriculum.

• Intradistrict open enrollment

  Intradistrict open enrollment is an education policy that permits students to attend a different public school within their assigned district. In some states, law requires school districts to adopt these policies, while it's voluntary in other states.

• Interdistrict open enrollment

  Interdistrict open enrollment is an education policy that permits students to attend a school outside of their district. In some states, law requires school districts to adopt these policies, while it's voluntary in other states.

• Magnet schools

  Sometimes called theme-based schools, these are public schools of choice that use a specialized subject area or innovative learning approach to attract students from more diverse backgrounds. Magnet schools can reach beyond the boundaries of school districts, but they are still managed and funded by local administration. This differentiates a magnet school from a charter school, as the latter is publicly funded but privately managed. Magnet schools are both funded and managed publicly, but are given the opportunity to employ specialized themes and subjects.

• Virtual schools

  Virtual schools offer most or all of their courses online. They can be public, private, charter, part-time, or full-time schools.

Homeschooling

This section defines terms related to homeschooling.

• Alternative instruction clauses

  These are state laws that exempt students from school attendance if they are receiving instruction from another source, though these laws do not specifically mention homeschooling.

• Homeschool statutes

  These are provisions in state laws that authorize homeschooling and set parameters for accountability. Parameters vary by state. Examples include requiring homeschool student assessments or reporting to local or state-level entities, among other requirements.

Terms related to school choice policy and law

See also: Private school choice policies in the 2025 budget reconciliation bill (One Big Beautiful Bill Act), Blaine amendments in state constitutions, Federal education laws

• Blaine Amendments

  Blaine Amendments refer to language in state constitutions that prohibits public funding for schools or educational institutions run by religious organizations. The language in each state constitution varies. Blaine Amendments are named after an amendment to the U.S. Constitution—sponsored by James Gillespie Blaine—that was proposed but never passed.

• Compelled Support Clause

  Compelled support clauses in state constitutions prohibit the government from compelling citizens to support certain causes, including religious ones. These clauses are commonly used in court cases to oppose the constitutionality of state-run private school choice programs.

• The Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA)

  The ECCA is a legislative proposal for a federal private school choice program. Portions of the policy proposal are similar to those passed in H.R. 1—known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—which established the first federal private school tax credit program.

• Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020)

  This is a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) case regarding a Montana tax credit scholarship program that matched—up to $150 a year—taxpayer donations to organizations that issued scholarships for private school students. To ensure compliance with the Montana Constitution, the state Department of Revenue established Rule 1, which barred recipients from using the scholarships at religiously affiliated private schools. SCOTUS ruled that Rule 1 violated the Free Exercise Clause by barring religious schools and parents who wished to send their children to those schools from receiving public benefits because of the religious character of the school.

• Establishment Clause

  The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment refers to the first of several pronouncements in the Amendment, stating that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...." Together with the Free Exercise Clause, ("...or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"), these two clauses make up what are commonly known as the "religion clauses" of the First Amendment. These provisions comprise many legal arguments against using public funding for private religious schools.

• Free Exercise Clause

  The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment protects the right to practice or exercise one's religion. Several courts have rejected challenges to or prohibitions on using private school choice program funds for religious education on the grounds of the Free Exercise Clause.

• Zelman v. Simmons‑Harris (2002)

  This is a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) case that held that private school choice vouchers do not violate the Establishment Clause if program participants are allowed to choose from a range of religious or secular schools. Ohio taxpayers filed an action against Susan Zelman, the superintendent of public education in Ohio, in 1999, arguing that the Ohio Pilot Project Scholarship Program violated the Establishment Clause, as most of the available private schools were religiously affiliated. The SCOTUS ruling held that the program did not encourage participants to attend religious schools and that it operated on the choice of parents.

See also

Other school choice-related content:

• Impact of school choice on rural school districts
• States with and without universal school choice programs
• School choice in the United States
• Policy and reform proposals related to the impact of school choice on rural districts
• Arguments about the effects of universal school choice on rural school districts
• Case studies on legislative support for and opposition to universal school choice legislation (2023-2024)
• State-by-state analysis of legislative representation
• State participation in the federal K-12 education tax credit program

Other education policy content

• Public education in the United States
• K-12 education content standards in the states
• K-12 curriculum authority, requirements, and statutes in the states