Detroit

To the dismay of teachers unions nationwide, President-elect Donald Trump has picked Betsy DeVos, a Michigan school reformer, to be the next education secretary. The day Ms. DeVos’s selection was announced, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, called her “the most ideological, anti-public-education nominee put forward since President Carter created a Cabinet-level Department of Education.” But as it often goes, what is bad for the teachers unions is good for the school kids. Ms. DeVos has a strong record of fighting for the latter here in her home state.

Her history of promoting charter schools goes back to 1994, when she worked closely with former Republican Gov. John Engler to pass Michigan’s charter law. These alternative public schools, free from union constraints, have flourished—especially in Detroit, where more than half of students attend charters. Only New Orleans has a higher percentage of students in charter schools.

But time and again, Michigan has resisted comprehensive reform. In 2000, Ms. DeVos and her husband funded a ballot initiative that would have created vouchers for students to use state funding at private schools. But the measure was defeated 69-31.

In 2003, a retired industrialist named Bob Thompson tried to give Detroit $200 million to establish a network of high-quality charter schools. His generous offer was originally accepted by then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Gov. Jennifer Granholm. But the Detroit teachers union protested and the politicians withdrew their support. In frustration, Mr. Thompson also changed his mind.