Joe Biden on Friday released a new plan on how public schools should approach reopening this school year, contrasting sharply with President Trump’s message that every school in the nation should reopen completely or risk having its funding cut.

Biden urged caution, saying that each district should make its own decisions based on local conditions, and that schools in areas with high infection rates should not reopen too soon. He also called on Congress to pass new emergency funding to help the schools.

“If we do this wrong, we will put lives at risk and set our economy and our country back,” the Biden campaign wrote in a plan released Friday afternoon.

Biden also released a new video, recorded from his basement in Wilmington, Del., joined by his wife, Jill, a longtime educator.

“This year, back to school is going to look very, very different,” Biden says in the video. “And we know how hard it’s going to be for families all across the country.”

Jill Biden adds, “Teachers are tough. But it’s wrong to endanger educators and students. We need a better plan.”

Biden argued that the federal government should develop clearer standards to help local districts decide when and how to reopen, including how low the infection rates should be, what a maximum safe class size is, and who should return to classrooms first if schools can’t accommodate all students.

“The current lack of clarity is paralyzing for schools,” the Biden plan says.

Biden also warned that without an infusion of federal funds, districts will struggle to pay for added health protections and may be forced to lay off teachers. He called on Congress to allocate emergency funding to help schools reconfigure classrooms, improve ventilation, and take other steps to allow for social distancing within their buildings….

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