Abstract

Abstract This article explores Lyndon Baines Johnsons and George W. Bushs use of key policy terms to justify their education policies. President Johnson foregrounded the key policy term of "opportunity," whereas President Bush emphasized the term "accountability." Conveying a confident, forward-looking view of society opportunity charged the federal government with distributing educational resources among local communities. Replacing confidence with skepticism, accountability shifted the federal role from providing inputs to insisting on outcomes. Accountability situated the federal government as the ultimate authority that set educational standards and determined if local communities met them.