While examining the broader educational reform movement from a critical perspective, this essay focuses on the national political manifestation of that movement--America 2000. In contrast to more traditional critiques of America 2000, this analysis argues the basic conflict between this reform effort and an "emancipatory definition of substantive democracy." The current infatuation with the market is strongly criticized and the case is made that current reforms, including America 2000, present an agenda that abstracts equity from excellence and social responsibility. What has been valorized in this new language of leadership is an elitist view of schooling based on a celebration of cultural uniformity, the reprivatization of public schools, uncritical support for remaking school curricula in the interest of labor-market imperatives, and a return to the transmission model of learning. In conclusion, prospective and existing educators and cultural workers should be given the opportunity to develop the following elements of a language of critique and possibility: (1) a language of historical perspective; (2) a language of social criticism; (3) a language of remembrance; (4) a language of critical imagination; and (5) a language that challenges the "money-and-missiles sense of reality." (LMI)