American education policy rarely produces voices who combine academic rigor with the kind of public communication skills that reach beyond a policy audience. Corey DeAngelis is one of the exceptions. A school choice advocate and researcher who has studied education outcomes across the country, he joined Sean Kelly on the Digital Social Hour for a detailed look at where the U.S. school system stands, why he believes it needs structural reform, and what school choice programs have actually produced in the states that have implemented them.
The conversation runs across more than forty minutes of substantive territory — funding mechanisms, teacher salaries, administrative costs, micro schools, education savings accounts, and the political dynamics that have shaped the debate on all sides.
About Corey DeAngelis
Corey DeAngelis is an education policy researcher and the author of The Parent Revolution, a book that makes his case for empowering families to direct public education funding toward the schooling options that best fit their children. He has been a prominent voice in the school choice movement, drawing on data and research to argue that competition and parental control lead to better outcomes than centralized systems alone.
His work has extended the school choice debate from academic journals to broader public conversation, and his ability to cite specific findings — on funding trends, performance comparisons, and the expansion of choice programs across more than a dozen states — gives his arguments a research foundation that grounds the discussion even when it enters contested political terrain.
What Corey DeAngelis and Sean Kelly Talked About
- What school choice means in practice and how education savings accounts give families more options
- His reading of the research on public school performance versus private and charter alternatives
- How school choice programs have expanded to more than 13 states and what outcomes look like so far
- The case DeAngelis makes against administrative bloat and how he believes funding is being misallocated
- The teacher salary debate — where he agrees with critics and where he parts ways with them
- His argument for abolishing the Department of Education and what he believes would replace it
- Why some politicians who oppose school choice send their own children to private schools
- What micro schools are and how they offer a model for education in rural and underserved areas
Why This Conversation Matters
Education reform is one of the most consequential and contested policy debates in the country, and Corey DeAngelis's episode with Sean Kelly offers a detailed look at one side of that debate from someone who has spent years studying it. Whether listeners share his views or not, the conversation provides the kind of specific, evidence-grounded argument that makes the school choice case on its own terms — and invites a genuine reckoning with the questions it raises.
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube
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About Sean Kelly & the Digital Social Hour
Sean Kelly is an entrepreneur and the host of the Digital Social Hour, one of the fastest-growing interview podcasts in the world, where he sits down with entrepreneurs, athletes, creators, and cultural voices for candid, long-form conversations. The show draws over 100 million views a month across platforms. Explore more guest features on SeanKelly.io.
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