In War of Words, 'Reform' a Potent Weapon

Key phrases provide powerful shorthand for those with specific policy bent

The rhetoric of education today tends to divide the world in two: between those who favor "reform" and those who don't.

Many who consider themselves reformers say they stand in opposition to the "status quo." Some of them speak of the need to challenge the "education establishment," or the education bureaucracy. Many also describe their policies as putting the needs of children and students first, as opposed to the ideas favored by their critics, who by implication are focused mostly on the concerns of adults.

A set of stock phrases, sound bites, and buzzwords has come to dominate the public discourse on education, summoned reflexively, it often seems, by elected officials and advocates who speak...