Dr. Corey A. DeAngelis is on a mission to empower parents and solidify school choice, taking on teacher's unions and ideological opponents in the process.
DeAngelis, who is out with a new book, "The Parent Revolution: Rescuing Your Kids from the Radicals Ruining Our Schools," told CBN News he got into education policy when he began exploring the issue as a researcher studying for his PhD at the University of Arkansas.
It was after exploring the impact of a school-choice program that his interest was piqued. DeAngelis said he started to see the non-academic outcomes surrounding these programs, noticing improvements in students' mental health, citizenry, and other relevant benchmarks.
"We found large effects on reducing crime as a result of getting to go to a school that works best for your kid," DeAngelis said. "Lo and behold, surprise, surprise, families get to choose a school that is aligned with their values, that isn't involved in drugs, and bullying, and violence, [and] their kids [were] less likely to be involved in crime later on in life."
In the end, he said school choice is a "win-win" solution, as public schools can also benefit from the competition that unfolds when choice is introduced.
Among the issues DeAngelis tackled is the ongoing debate over the use of vouchers for religious schools. Critics claim these vouchers take taxpayer dollars away from public schools and give them to religious institutions, claiming there's a separation of church and state violation.
But DeAngelis said this perspective is hypocritical. Listen to him explain.