By the late 1980s, many in Milwaukee were fed up with the failure of it’s public schools to meet the needs of it’s citizens. Joining forces with advocates for free market-based reforms like Governor Tommy Thompson, together they created a grand experiment: the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.  From that modest beginning, school choice grew around the nation.  But recent years have seen an explosion in school choice that is chronicled in Corey Deangelis’s new book, The Parent Revolution: Rescuing Your Kids from the Radicals Ruining Our Schools.  

DeAngelis is arguably the most prominent advocate for school choice in America today. With a Ph.D. in Education Policy from the University of Arkansas, he has the ability to argue with data and research that the benefits of school choice are not just intangible, but actually measurable. His previous research in Milwaukee has found that the benefits of school choice include not just a higher likelihood of academic success, but also a lowered likelihood to become involved in the criminal justice system. In 2016, WILL partnered with Corey DeAngelis to estimate the economic benefits of school choice to Wisconsin at nearly $500 million annually. 

Armed with this base of knowledge, DeAngelis argues that the chief source of the rapid growth of school choice in recent years was decision-making by education officials during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Parents saw firsthand the manner in which their kids were being taught with at-home schooling—and often didn’t like what they saw.  And they witnessed the refusal of schools to reopen despite extensive evidence that the pandemic was of virtually no danger to children.  

Over the next few years, the dramatic, negative effects on a generation of children have been laid bare. There have been stark declines in academic advancement, particularly among socioeconomically disadvantaged students. In Wisconsin, our research found that districts that remained closed for a longer time period saw a decline of proficiency nearly 5% higher than in districts that reopened—and those students haven’t made up the deficit.  This despite massive increases in spending from the federal government through ESSER. 

During this time of upheaval and panic, many private schools offered a stark contrast to their public-school counterparts.  They reopened as soon as they were allowed to. Rather than fearing parental involvement, they welcomed it. This is perhaps less surprising when one considers who the constituencies are for each set of schools.   Whereas private schools will lose funding if parents decide to make other choices, public schools are often insulated from that possibility by funding formulas that are slow to adjust to changing enrollment numbers. In Wisconsin, it can take up to four years for the effects of a lost student to affect the bottom-line of a school.   All of this means that private schools are often most receptive to the needs of parents and kids, while public schools can afford to be most concerned with the needs of teachers, administrators, and staff.  

Next week, Corey will come to Wisconsin to discuss his new book in partnership with WILL and School Choice Wisconsin.  In some ways, this represents school choice coming full circle—back to it’s roots in the hard work of thirty years ago from folks on both sides of the political spectrum.  But it can also represent an opportunity to highlight that Wisconsin is falling behind other states—where the era of parental empowerment has led to far broader school choice programs than those we have here being implemented.  

We hope that you will join us for an enlightening discussion! 

When: Wednesday, May 22nd
Reception: 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM
Program: 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Where: The Ingleside Hotel
2810 Golf Rd.
Pewaukee, WI 53072

Cost: $35 Per Attendee (Includes A Copy of Corey’s Book)

Join WILL for an engaging discussion and book signing event with Dr. Corey DeAngelis, author of the upcoming book ‘The Parent Revolution: Rescuing Your Kids From Radicals Ruining Our Schools.’

Enjoy light appetizers, a cash bar, and a personally signed copy of the book. Admission is $35 per person and includes a signed copy of the book.

More About the Book: In The Parent Revolution, Dr. Corey A. DeAngelis–public enemy #1 of the teachers’ unions – takes readers inside this movement like no one else can. As Vox reported in late 2023, DeAngelis has become “the public face” of the effort, “traveling from state to state, holding rallies, making media appearances, and tweeting constantly.” Or as another education voice put it, “No one in education policy, advocacy, or activism has ever lived rent-free in more heads at once than Corey DeAngelis.”

More About the Author: Corey A. DeAngelis is a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children and a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He has been labeled the “school choice evangelist” and called “the most effective school choice advocate since Milton Friedman.” He is a regular on Fox News and frequently appears in The Wall Street Journal. DeAngelis is also the executive director at Educational Freedom Institute, a senior fellow at Reason Foundation, an adjunct scholar at Cato Institute, and a board member at Liberty Justice Center. He holds a Ph.D. in education policy from the University of Arkansas.