Orwellian Educational Change under Obama: Crisis Discourse, Utopian Expectations, and Accountability Failures

"It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language....[T]he slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts, " Orwell (1946) warns in "Politics and the English Language. " Few examples are better for proving Orwell right than political language addressing the education of children in the U.S. But, as Orwell adds, "If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration." Barack Obama personifies the power of personality in politics and the value of articulating a compelling vision that resonates with many voters in the US and other global citizens. For Obama's presidential campaign, the refrain that worked was driven by two words and concepts, "hope " and "change. " From healthcare, to war, to education reform, however, the Obama administration is proving that political discourse is more likely to mask intent—just as Orwell warned through his essays and most influential novel 1984, the source of the term "double-speak " that characterizes well Obama's and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's public comments on education reform. They mask the programs promoted and implemented by the Department of Education