Alternative schools are by definition free, private schools that can be established by private persons or by formal institutions, and parents can choose among them the same as they can between state schools. In Croatia, they are represented to a lesser extent than public schools and differ from them in the didactic-methodological view. Alternative schools achieve their methodological and didactic goals in a different way, because in such schools the emphasis is placed on constructivist teaching and on individual approach to the student. In this paper, we wanted to give an overview of alternative and state schools and to investigate parents’ opinions about them. Through the theoretical part of the paper, alternative schools such as the Waldorf school, Montessori school, Freinet school and Summerhill are presented. These alternative schools are presented through their own founders, pedagogical principles and methodological and didactic concepts of teaching organization. In Croatia, there are currently educational institutions that offer the concept of education according to the program of the Waldorf and Montessori schools, while the other previously mentioned schools are not represented. In addition to the mentioned alternative schools, this paper wanted to give an overview of the educational system in Croatian public schools in terms of: organization of classes, subjects, assessment and the relationship between parents and teachers. According to all of the above, the aim of the research was to gain insight into the opinions, aspirations, doubts and possibilities in times when public and alternative schools would be equally represented in Croatia and in general about parents awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of state and alternative education. The research was conducted on the basis of the interview method, and a total of four participants from the Krapina-Zagorje County participated in it.