The Chicago Public Schools system is a disaster, and it isn’t being helped by the fact that the city’s Democratic officials keep using it as a political tool.

Mayor Brandon Johnson is trying to push out the district’s CEO, Pedro Martinez, over a dispute in which Martinez opposed Johnson’s plan for a $300 million short-term, high-interest loan for school funding after the Democratic legislature rejected Johnson’s funding request. The feud eventually led all seven members of the city’s school board to step down, allowing Johnson to appoint new members who could fire Martinez.