School choice is an intriguing issue, getting to the very heart, of the American ideals of freedom, self-direction, equity, and diversity. While school choice is touted by some as a solution to the problems of American education, it is questioned more critically or even cynically by others. What cannot be denied is the fact that school choice exists on an increasingly widespread basis in America. The purposes of this study were to provide an up-to-date review of the status of the school choice movement on the national level, to identify key issues of the movement, and to describe choice options and programs. Having a description of its nature will offer assistance to those decision makers such as school boards, superintendents, administrators, and teachers, who will need to sort the rhetoric from the truth in analyzing the role of school choice in shaping schools in their communities. School choice is replete with contradictory and often unanswered questions. A review of the literature on school choice has revealed a range of issues: school choice as a reform movement, as a diversionary tactic to use public funds for private education, as a solution to integration, as a guise for increased segregation and elitism, as a basic parental right, or as a detriment to the greater needs of a society, among others. One of the strongest observations to be made as a result of this review of school choice is that it is an issue for which the evidence is inconclusive. Another important observation is that school choice has survived head-on attacks on the pclitical battlefields from the White House to state capitols to school board meeting rooms. It has woven itself into the school restructuring movement, and new options such as charter schools continue to emerge in the school choice movement. It is a significant educational issue for the future. / Ed. D.