Dr. Corey A. DeAngelis is on a mission to empower parents and solidify school choice across America, taking on teacher’s unions and ideological opponents in the process.
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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.”
Watch him explain:
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 comes into the mix.
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.
“By the way, the words ‘separation of church and state’ are not in the U. S. Constitution,” he said. “They’re talking about a state-established religion.”
DeAngelis continued, “School choice — you getting to pick your school for your child that aligns with your values — that does not establish a state religion.”
And he wasn’t done there. DeAngelis said those arguing against school choice don’t seem to have a problem when monies go to other religious institutions in different contexts.
“They have no problem with Medicaid vouchers that can be used at religiously-affiliated hospitals,” he said. “You don’t have to take your Medicaid dollars to a government-assigned hospital. You don’t have to take your Head Start pre-K dollars to a government-assigned pre-K.”
DeAngelis said the same concept applies to Pell Grants as well, which can be used for religious universities based on the perspective and decision of a family or student.
“I’m just arguing we should apply that same logic to … K through 12 education,” he said. “And it’s not a separation of state and church and state issue at all … [and] does not violate the establishment clause, because parents, and students, and families, they are the primary decision-makers.”
The education expert accused teacher unions and other groups of fighting against any change to the status quo, alleging they want to “keep your kids’ education dollars” as well as a monopoly they can control.
And DeAngelis said this becomes even more pronounced when faith is involved.
“The anti-religious, radical left liberals that control the school system, they don’t have to have their own kids,” he said. “They can basically just use the school system for seven hours a day, for 13 years of children’s lives — their most impressionable years — to shape, to inculcate their worldview in the classroom.”
The increased recognition of this problem, DeAngelis said, has sparked parents to launch what he called a “revolution,” something he believes was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic when some teachers unions fought to keep schools closed.
“[The unions’] plan quickly backfired because parents, through remote learning … families got to see something was going on that was not just the basics,” he said. “The schools were indoctrinating as opposed to educating, and that will do more to mobilize a parent than anything else.”
DeAngelis continued, “COVID just put a spotlight on … the rot that was already there.”
The expert credited social media with helping reveal some of what has been happening in schools, and said the end result has been that the kids now have a “union of their own — their parents.” And he believes these parents will be successful.
“They’re going to win the war that the unions waged on their families for decades,” he said. “Because parents care about their kids more than anybody else. They have more of a vested interest in protecting the rights of their family and their children. And parents happen to have more power in numbers than the status quo. So, parents will win. We’re already winning in red states.”
Ultimately, DeAngelis hopes his book, “The Parent Revolution: Rescuing Your Kids from the Radicals Ruining Our Schools,” helps leave families “optimistic,” despite the education challenges he believes are before America.
“There’s a lot of disagreement, but, look, the majority of Republicans, Independents, and Democrats support education freedom,” he said. “And this happens to be a policy that the unions are losing on, and that we are finally winning on.”
Watch DeAngelis speak for more about his views on these issues.
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