Somebody dynamited William H. Johnson's back porch in 1944, but that did not dislodge him from office. Mayor Ed Kelly's stooge Superintendent of Schools was a hard man to oust—so long as Boss Kelly stood for him. The accusations of the National Education Association (TIME, May 28, 1945) couldn't do it, though their charges were serious: that Johnson transferred 600 teachers to reward his friends and punish his enemies, for a juicy fee tutored teachers who wanted to be principals, and terrorized teachers by a network of spies.

In March the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools threatened to disaccredit...