Education reformers were given reason for giving generous thanks on Thanksgiving when, the day before, President-elect Donald Trump announced he would nominate Betsy DeVos as secretary of education.

DeVos has been an active philanthropist and an activist in Michigan politics, as state Republican chairman in 1996-2000 and again in 2003-05. She has worked for more than 20 years to promote school choice and charter schools in Michigan and across the nation.