During President-elect Barack Obama’s press conference introducing Arne Duncan as his pick for U.S. Secretary of Education, Obama suggested that “If we want to out-compete the world tomorrow, then we have to out-educate the world today.”

We couldn’t agree more.

And we couldn’t be happier with Obama’s choice. As CEO of Chicago Public Schools from 2001-present, Duncan has turned the nation’s third-largest school system into a hotbed of reform with relatively smooth labor relations--a rare combination these days—and most importantly, an inner city where kids are learning. During Duncan’s tenure, the number of kids meeting state standards soared from 39 percent to 67 percent and graduation and college-going rates topped 50 percent for the first time.

Sure, Duncan took the job under some of the most favorable conditions in the country: mayoral control, a strong predecessor who kick-started reforms (Paul Vallas), a teacher’s union that lost the right to strike during the mayoral takeover, robust philanthropic and research communities who desperately want the school system to succeed (think Obama Campaign Finance Chair Penny Priztker who heads up a venture philanthropy fund to seed innovation and improvement in the Chicago school system), and families and students clamoring for good schooling that leads to better life opportunities.

Duncan whole-heartedly deserves the praise he’s attracted for pushing through contentious reforms—charter schools, closing low-performing schools and opening 100 new schools in their stead, and a pay-for-performance pilot—without embittering the teacher’s union.

But what I think is most interesting about Duncan is how he makes lemonade out of lemons. Even though each school’s local governing board hires its principal (not Duncan), Duncan and his team tightened up the selection criteria to ensure only highly qualified candidates can apply. Same with curricula – each school selects their own reading program for example, but now a school must choose from a district-approved list. And when Chicago had granted all of its 30 charters allowed under Illinois state law, Duncan and his team created a new category of school – the contract school – that operates within the school system but enjoys many of the flexibilities held by charters.

It is refreshing to have someone who can effectively and creatively work around constraints leading our nation’s education policy. Because while we’ve tinkered around the edges with charter schools, small schools, vouchers, and the like (not all bad by the way, just not scalable) the majority of children in this country, particularly low-income and minority students—attend traditional public schools operating under the formidable constraints of powerful unions, limited resources and bureaucratic central offices that often obstruct the hiring of the best and brightest teachers rather than help.

Duncan, a former professional basketball player, is at the top of his game. If he can win the equivalent of a few NBA tournaments over the next four years (maintaining strong accountability; scaling up effective teacher and principal recruitment and mentoring programs; and incentivizing charters, pay for performance and other innovations to name a few) our nation’s kids—and our country’s long-term prosperity—will be the big victors.