With the state's Profile of Learning education standards likely to be scrapped, the state will face the challenge of concocting new standards or face the loss of millions in federal education funding dangled as part of President Bush's "no child left behind" initiative.

So Gov. Tim Pawlenty made a wise move Thursday with his appointment of Cheri Pierson Yecke, a Minnesota native who has spent time recently as the chief of Virginia schools and most recently worked for the U.S. Department of Education -- where she helped implement Bush's education plan. That experience, as well as her involvement in education standards in Virginia, provide a solid background which she can apply to Minnesota's problems.

The choice of Yecke continues a promising pattern in Pawlenty's cabinet picks. From top to bottom, they are best characterized as people who will get their hands dirty -- people who can get the job done. Former Gov. Jesse Ventura's choices were mostly strong, but there were a couple of puzzlers; Pawlenty so far doesn't appear to have made any mistakes.

We're confident that Yecke will not only become a problem solver, but will offer solutions when it comes to figuring out needed standards for educating Minnesota's children.