Among the different meanings of equivalence in Swedish Education policy in the 1990ies, one can be related to the concept of -freedom of choice-. Even though this relation doesn-t contribute to a replacement of the historically more unambiguous meaning of equivalence, it coexists with it and represents a constant tension to it. This tension can be described in terms of a -freedom of choice challenge- on equivalence. In this text I aim to highlight this tension in relation to the Swedish schools- assignment to bring up democratic citizens in the early 1990ies. The question I try to answer is how can the freedom of choice challenge be considered to stand out in the political understanding of the schools- upbringing of democratic citizens in Sweden in the early 1990ies? I take my point of departure in some nationally encompassing Education policy texts.