At $12 billion, E-12 education is one of Minnesota's biggest-ticket budget items. Every year, lawmakers make critical choices about the funding, policies and standards used to educate state children. Few of those legislators are experts in education.

That's why a plan to provide good, nonpartisan data to inform those decisions merits consideration.

Several education groups, including Parents United for Public Schools and the Association of Metropolitan School Districts, are urging the Legislature to establish an independent education research group. Called the State Center for Education Leadership and Research, the organization would develop leadership training, conduct research and serve as a clearinghouse for best practices. The proposal calls for about $200,000 in start-up funds from the state, but could later be supported by independent foundations, grants and colleges and university research centers.

Supporters think such an entity could do a better job of separating politics from educational policy. In Minnesota, the governor appoints the education commissioner. The concern is that some material provided by the state Department of Education is filtered through the administration's political agenda. Some educators say department budget cuts have left the agency less able to respond to information requests. According to the education department, the agency's budget decreased from $22.3 million in 2004 to $19.8 million this year.

Proponents of the research group make another good point: Solid research could help lawmakers eliminate programs that are proven ineffective and save taxpayer dollars.

Education department officials disagree. Education Commissioner Alice Seagren says her department is already working with education stakeholders to collect and share data. She says that in addition to gathering its own information, the department uses federal grants and taps into an array of local, regional and national research on how to use limited resources more efficiently.

True, there's no shortage of educational research. Lawmakers and others can and do turn to groups such as the Education Commission of the States, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the National Center of Education Statistics, just to name a few. Locally, groups like the Citizens League, the Minnesota Business Partnership and several think tanks regularly issue education studies. Both the state House and Senate each have one staff member doing education research.

Yet it would be helpful to legislators, parent groups and others to have a reliable, nonpartisan clearinghouse to sift through mountains of current studies and conduct fresh research to meet specific Minnesota needs. Such a group would cost very little and could combine the best of current efforts at the University of Minnesota, MnSCU and other higher education research departments.

Many other states have education administrations designed to minimize political influence and turnover. In some, voters elect state superintendents. Others have state education boards that can serve as buffers between governors and their education departments. Appointed members serve in staggered terms so that no one governor usually selects them all. For nearly 80 years, Minnesota had such a board, but the Legislature eliminated it in 1999.

Realistically, under any model politics will influence policy decisions. Still, before the partisanship kicks in, lawmakers and others should have the most solid, independent data on which to begin discussions.