Donald Trump, Betsy DeVos

In this Nov. 19, 2016 file photo, President-elect Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos pose for photographs at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J. Trump has chosen charter school advocate DeVos as Education Secretary in his administration. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

(Carolyn Kaster)

Michigan school choice advocate and longtime Republican supporter Betsy DeVos has been selected to serve as President-elect Donald Trump's education secretary.

DeVos, who had been under consideration by Trump for the position, was officially picked Wednesday, according to a statement from Trump's transition team. DeVos met with Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence Saturday at Trump's golf club in Bedminister, New Jersey.

"Betsy DeVos is a brilliant and passionate education advocate," Trump said in a statement. "Under her leadership we will reform the U.S. education system and break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back so that we can deliver world-class education and school choice to all families. I am pleased to nominate Betsy as Secretary of the Department of Education."

In the same statement, DeVos said she was honored to accept and work with Trump on his vision.

"The status quo in education is not acceptable," she said. "Together, we can work to make transformational change that ensures every student in America has the opportunity to fulfill his or her highest potential."

DeVos family spokesperson John Truscott said here in Michigan, DeVos had a strong track record on education issues.

"Obviously education has been a key issue for her for decades, and especially helping children in areas where they just have underperforming schools. She has been a leader in the area of getting more options for kids so that they can succeed," Truscott said.

Scott Hagerstrom, former Michigan State Director for the Trump campaign and president of the Michigan Prosperity Project, said DeVos had long advocated for school choice.

"She's been an advocate and she's been an advocate for school choice, parental choice, and dedicated to making education better for kids throughout the country," Hagerstrom said.

He hasn't heard her speak directly about the Common Core curriculum, but said some of the groups she's with supported it while Trump did not, so "hopefully that was something that was worked out in her conversations with President-elect Trump."

DeVos, whose husband Dick unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2006, is a renowned advocate -- both in Michigan and nationally -- for school choice and charter schools. She serves on the board of the Michigan-based Great Lakes Education Project and is chair of the Washington D.C.-based American Federation for Children.

On the campaign trail, Trump pushed for greater school choice on the campaign trail, including a proposal to pump $20 billion into expanding options for low-income students.

DeVos, a former chair of the Michigan Republican Party, previously expressed reservations about Trump. At the Republican National Convention in July she cast her vote as an at-large delegate for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and said she was still hoping to "hear something from our nominee to convince me that I should support him."

News of her appointment was less welcomed by the Michigan Democratic Party and other progressive groups, many of which criticized DeVos' ardent support for school choice and vouchers for religious schools.

"Donald Trump could not have made a more dangerous and ill-advised pick for his Secretary of Education than billionaire charter school advocate and anti-public education activist Betsy DeVos," Michigan Democratic Party Chair Brandon Dillon said.

Dillon, who called on Trump to immediately rescind his appointment, said the DeVos pick could put the entire public education system in harm's way.

"She has consistently encouraged and enabled attacks on public school teachers and our children's right to a quality public education, to line the pockets of corporate charter school investors and make her family's extremely conservative views part of a mainstream curriculum," Dillon said.

Lonnie Scott, executive director of the progressive organization Progress Michigan, said the DeVos pick "proves that having a shortage of experience means nothing as long as you don't have a shortage of money."

"The DeVos family education plan has been a disaster for Michigan and we are truly saddened that Trump decided to import their failed ideas to Washington D.C.," Scott said.

MLive reporter Emily Lawler contributed to this report.