How this Florida school district turned its education system around

Brevard Public Schools in Florida has undergone a radical transformation under the leadership of Megan Wright, the newest chairwoman of the school board. Wright was endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in 2022 and is a true driver of education reform. Since her election, Brevard has become a national model for change, spearheading significant, and sometimes controversial, new policies that already have created promising improvements in academic performance.

Wright unseated incumbent board Chairwoman Misty Belford in a hotly contested election that ushered in a new conservative majority and paved the way for her chairwomanship. With Wright as chairwoman, the district has launched multiple initiatives that are reshaping the educational landscape of Brevard County.

Once elected, Wright immediately set to work, putting parents back in the driver’s seat of their children’s education. The district passed a book review policy that grants parents oversight and control over their children’s access to books in school libraries.

While critics argue that this policy is tantamount to censorship and limits students’ exposure to divergent worldviews and systems of morality, supporters find that it gives parents a say in what young minds are exposed to, aligning educational content with their family’s values and beliefs. Indeed, these policies encourage greater parental involvement, which is a shared goal across the ideological spectrum.