The Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice is a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based think tank that promotes research into education practices. The organization is primarily a funder of research and work that is often done by third parties.
The organization has been criticized for its close ties to teachers’ unions. 1 In 2023, its board of trustees and leadership was composed entirely of officials from various teachers’ unions. 2
The organization is a critic of both charter schools and virtual schools, the latter of which have exploded since COVID-19 lockdowns and closures of in-person schooling that resulted from them. It has claimed that virtual schools underperform compared to in-person learning institutions and that they are poorly regulated by state governments. 3
Overview
The Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice is an education think tank and research group that studies various topics related to education. The organization is often not the primary researcher on a project, and instead funds and supports third parties to research various topics. In addition, it acts as a clearing house for other research conducted into education related topics. 4
The organization was founded in 2000. It received seed money of $200,000 from the Michigan Education Association teachers’ union. Its initial purpose was to criticize reports released by the free-market think tank Mackinac Center. However, it suffered from initial instability when its first executive director left the organization before December 2001. 5
Advocacy and Research
In January 2015, Great Lakes Center published research that criticized school accountability report cards. 6
In August 2016, it called for increased regulation of charter schools. It complained that the growth of charter schools has led to corruption, weak academic performance, and increased segregation. 7
In December 2018, it published a report that claimed that voucher-funded private schools and charter schools opened the door to discrimination. It cited the case of a religious school placing an LGBT counselor on leave when she married her same-sex partner. It also cited instances of voucher and charter schools enrolling very few students with disabilities compared to traditional public schools. It recommended the enactment of strong anti-discrimination laws and pulling money from these schools. 8
In August 2020, its then-executive director Gretchen Dziadosz published an op-ed that complained of underfunded Michigan public schools. She called for more “equitable” funding, smaller class sizes, and universal pre-K programs. 9
In May 2023, it released a report that claimed that virtual schools were still underperforming compared to traditional in-person schools. It also claimed that regulation of virtual schools was inadequate. 10
Criticism
The Great Lakes Center has close ties to teachers’ unions. The board of directors for the organization has always read like a “whos who” of teachers’ union executives according to the Center for Education Reform’s Nancy Salvato. 11
Leadership
The executive director of the Great Lakes Center is Maddie Fennell. She was previously the executive director of the Nebraska State Education Association teachers’ union. She was also the 2007 Nebraska teacher of the year. 12
As of 2023, the board of trustees for the organization consisted entirely of officials from various teachers’ unions. 13
Funding
According to the 2021 tax returns, the organization had $446,073 in revenue and $369,233 in expenses. It had $331,394 in assets. 14
Subscribing funders to the GLC include the National Education Association and the State Education Association affiliates in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. 15
References
- Salvato, Nancy. “A Think Tank’s Credibility Tanks.” The Center for Education Reform. Accessed May 29, 2023. https://edreform.com/2006/05/a-think-tanks-credibility-tanks-nancy-salvato/.
- “About.” The Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice. Accessed May 29, 2023. https://www.greatlakescenter.org/about/.
- “Exploring the Research behind Charter School Accountability.” Great Lakes Center Email, August 23, 2016. https://greatlakescenter.org/docs/Policy_Briefs/Research-Based-Options-2015/10-Mathis-Regulating-Charters.htm.
- “About.” The Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice. Accessed May 29, 2023. https://www.greatlakescenter.org/about/.
- Lehman, Joseph G. “Mea Forms Group to Attack Mackinac Center Research.” Mackinac Center, December 15, 2001. https://www.mackinac.org/4088.
- “New Policy Brief Shows A-F Report Cards Deserve a Failing Grade.” Great Lakes Center for Education Research & Practice, January 26, 2015. https://greatlakescenter.org/docs/Policy_Briefs/Howe-StateReportCards.htm.
- “Exploring the Research behind Charter School Accountability.” Great Lakes Center Email, August 23, 2016. https://greatlakescenter.org/docs/Policy_Briefs/Research-Based-Options-2015/10-Mathis-Regulating-Charters.htm.
- “When Publicly Funded Schools Exclude Segments of the Public.” Great Lakes Center Email, December 8, 2018. https://greatlakescenter.org/docs/Policy_Briefs/Mead-Eckes-Privatization.htm
- Dziadosz, Gretchen. “Column: Here’s What Schools Need during COVID-19 and Beyond.” Michigan Advance, August 3, 2020. https://michiganadvance.com/2020/08/03/column-heres-what-schools-need-during-covid-19-and-beyond/.
- “Virtual Schools Continue to Underperform, Have Little Research Support, and Lack Adequate Regulation.” Virtual School Meanderings, May 11, 2023. https://virtualschooling.wordpress.com/2023/05/12/virtual-schools-continue-to-underperform-have-little-research-support-and-lack-adequate-regulation/.
- Salvato, Nancy. “A Think Tank’s Credibility Tanks.” The Center for Education Reform. Accessed May 29, 2023. https://edreform.com/2006/05/a-think-tanks-credibility-tanks-nancy-salvato/.
- “Who We Are.” Education Reimagined. Accessed May 29, 2023. https://education-reimagined.org/about/who-we-are/.
- “About.” The Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice. Accessed May 29, 2023. https://www.greatlakescenter.org/about/
- “Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice, Full Filing.” ProPublica. Accessed May 29, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/383555110/202320549349301002/full.
- “About.” The Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice. Accessed May 29, 2023. https://www.greatlakescenter.org/about/.