In recent days, President-elect Barack Obama has been racking up Cabinet nominations. He has filled the "big four": Treasury, Defense, State and attorney general. But there is one post he hasn't filled, one that is also important: secretary of education.

So much of our nation's economic, social and cultural well-being over the next few generations will depend on how effective we are in educating the children of today. We need well-educated and productive workers who can compete for jobs in the global arena. In 20 years, with most of the baby boomers in retirement, these needs will only intensify.

And while the nuts and bolts of the public school system are best left to local districts, President George Bush taught Americans that the federal government can play a role in setting high standards, measuring performance and holding teachers accountable with reform laws such as the sweeping federal law called No Child Left Behind.

Teachers' unions despise NCLB because it lifts the curtain and reveals what sort of job their members are doing in educating our children. And so they're determined to kill it. Unfortunately, they might actually have a shot at doing that with a Democrat in the White House and a Democratic-controlled Congress. The only thing that could stand in the way of achieving this dreadful goal is having a strong, capable and persuasive leader at the Department of Education. We need someone who is as relentless in defending the interests of children as the unions are in serving their own.

A fine candidate would be Washington, D.C., schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, a tough and visionary reformer whom Obama called "wonderful" during the campaign. Since taking over the school system last year, Rhee has gone to war with the Washington Teachers Union for the right to fire bad teachers, raise standards, and instill more accountability.

Maybe Rhee deserves a promotion. And, if she's that good, the country deserves nothing less than having someone like her as education secretary.

REPRINTED FROM THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE.