Teachers' Unions Set Out to Slime Conservative Think Tanks.

This release caught my eye.

The Great Lakes Center for Education Research & Practice and distinguished university scholars today announced a new project to review research reports and studies on public education issues released by regional and national think tanks in Michigan and other states.

The Think Twice Response Project, sponsored by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research & Practice in East Lansing, Michigan, and a team of researchers from major universities across the nation will analyze education-related research produced by think tanks in Great Lakes states and nationwide.

“Far too often think tanks generate reports and studies that they try to pass off to the news media and policymakers as ‘quality academic research,’ when in fact they are often primarily opinion papers,” said Teri Battaglieri, director of the Great Lakes Center, an independent nonprofit coalition dedicated to supporting and disseminating sound academic research on education issues. “The Think Twice team of university scholars will examine think tank research and reports on important public education issues and provide reviews of them in a timely fashion.”

Specifically, Think Twice will monitor the research of think tanks that relates to public education issues and policies in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Think tanks located in the Great Lakes states will be watched, including the Buckeye Institute, Ohio; Center of the American Experiment, Minnesota; Heartland Institute, Chicago; Wisconsin Policy Research Institute; and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Michigan. National think tanks also will be monitored, including the CATO Institute, Manhattan Institute, Heritage Foundation, and others. The goal is to identify and explain the aspects of reports released by think tanks that are of good quality and poor quality, so that policy-makers can make the best possible use of the reports’ research and ideas.

Here's an easy predicition.

They will rip any research that supports school choice, charter schools, open enrollment, the No Child Left Behind Act and any other policy initiative that doesn't fit the teacher's union agenda.

As the release later notes they were, "Founded by the Michigan Education Association, the Great Lakes Center is now also supported by the Illinois Education Association, the Indian State Teachers Association, Education Minnesota, the Ohio Education Association, and the Wisconsin Education Association Council."