EFI Exists to
Research, Document, and Report
the benefits that school choice provides to students, families, and communities.
We support policies that protect and promote school choice.
We pursue this mission using objective data and through publishing our findings.
EFI is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to these efforts.
Leadership
Corey DeAngelis, PhD
President
Corey DeAngelis is a senior fellow at Americans For Fair Treatment and a visiting fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. 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 president of 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. He is the national bestselling author of The Parent Revolution: Rescuing Your Kids from the Radicals Ruining Our Schools (Center Street, 2024).
Jay P. Greene, PhD
Managing Senior Fellow
Dr. Greene is a senior research fellow in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation. At Heritage, Jay conducts and disseminates research on the key issues facing education today, including the cultural, civic, and economic implications of how education systems are designed and implemented. He is one of the country’s leading experts on education policy, with highly influential research on a broad range of topics—from the effects of expanding school choice and how education shapes character and values to the misuse of social science research in policy debates. In addition to authoring dozens of publications in peer-reviewed journals and writing or editing four books, including the best-selling Education Myths, Greene’s research on school choice was also cited four times in the Supreme Court’s landmark case, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris. Jay comes to Heritage from the University of Arkansas, where he served as Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Education Reform, which he founded and led for 16 years. Greene received his B.A. in history from Tufts University and earned his Ph.D. in government from Harvard University. Dr. DeAngelis holds a PhD in Education Policy from University of Arkansas
Ian Kingsbury, PhD
Senior Fellow
Dr. Kingsbury researches and publishes full time on educational freedom. His areas of interest center on the effects of policy on school choice options, virtual schooling, among other related topics. Ian's work is animated by the belief that school choice should be parent-centered and not held captive to the priorities of technocrats, philanthropists, or others who claim to know what is best for other people's children. Prior to joining EFI, Ian worked with Stride, Inc. and the Empire Center where he was fellow for education policy. Dr. Kingsbury received his PhD from the University of Arkansas where he studied Education Policy. Before joining the Empire Center, he was a postdoctoral fellow at The Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Kingsbury received his Master of Arts from the Teachers College of Columbia University in Education Policy and Social Analysis. He received his bachelor’s degree in Government and History from The College of William and Mary.
Board of Directors
James D. Paul, PhD
Member
Dr. Paul has served as executive director of the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board, currently serves on the West Virginia Board of Education, and is also Director of State Education Opportunity at American First Policy Institute. He received his doctorate in Education Policy from University of Arkansas.
Matthew Nielsen, MS
CHAIRMAN & Founder
Mr. Nielsen is passionate about the preservation of individual choice. He works to expand education options for families throughout the United States, recognizing the unique needs of individual students. He has authored many articles for news publications in addition to original research and is the author of the 2024 book, Critical Condition: Destructive Ideologies in America's Classrooms..
Jason Bedrick, MPP
Member
Mr. Bedrick has a long history in the school choice movement that has resulted in his gaining an impressive depth of knowledge about education policy at the state and federal levels. He also served as a state legislator, which gives him a unique and valuable perspective on how policy is formed.
Advisory Board
Jonathan Butcher, Will Skillman Fellow, Heritage Foundation
Jason Crye, Program Officer, Bradley Foundation
Dr. Angela Dills, Professor of Economics, Western Carolina University
Max Eden, Research Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Robert Enlow, President and CEO, EdChoice
Dr. Matthew Ladner, Sr. Advisor, Heritage Foundation
Kerry McDonald, Sr. Education Fellow at FEE
Dr. Benjamin Scafidi, Professor of Economics, Kennesaw State University
Inez Stepman, Sr. Policy Analyst, Independent Women’s Forum
Dr. Terry Stoops, Director of State Affairs, Defending Education
