(CNN) Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Wednesday defended the proposal to allow certain teachers to be armed in schools, an idea pushed by President Donald Trump and some other Republicans.

"I think to say 'arming teachers' is oversimplification and a mischaracterization really," DeVos said in a brief news conference after a visit to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

"I think that the concept is to, for those schools and those communities that opt to do this ... to have people who are expert in being able to defend and having lots and lots of training to do so."

During the visit, DeVos and principal Ty Thompson laid a wreath outside the fence of the building where the February 14 shooting occurred, and she met some students and teachers, according to the Department of Education.

Read More