Private Choice

About Private School Choice 

Increasingly, American families are looking beyond the traditional system for settings better aligned with their children’s needs. Private school choice empowers parents by offering alternatives—parochial schools, Jewish day schools, homeschooling, microschools, and more—that fit each child. Pioneer advances these options because they expand opportunity and encourage the public system to refocus on its core mission: cultivating independent thought, curiosity, character, and citizenship. 

Over the past decade, private education has shifted dramatically, with two dozen states adopting vouchers, Education Savings Accounts, and similar programs. Technology has accelerated this change, making home- and micro-schooling more accessible. Pioneer supported key cases—Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020) and Carson v. Makin (2022)—that dismantled discriminatory statutes and constitutional barriers to school choice. 

A decade ago, only a small share of U.S. students had access to state-sanctioned private choice programs; today nearly 1 in 2 do. And more states continue to debate new school choice expansions.