President Trump is insisting that schools across the nation fully open this fall, threatening to withhold federal funds from states and districts that fail to do so.

Betsy DeVos, in the running for the least qualified secretary of education in modern times, likewise is insisting that schools remain open.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the president doesn’t have the authority to order public schools to reopen. He said that decision rests with the states.

As for withholding funds, several experts said that power rests with Congress.

But is the president and his team wrong to insist that schools reopen?

No. We agree with experts on both sides of the political fence that children desperately need the interaction of in-person education. Our children have been bottled up for months, and that’s not healthy nor conducive to their learning.

Both of our school districts, 60 and 70, acknowledge that fact. But unlike the president and his education secretary, they are being thoughtful in their approach. They are meeting with all sorts of groups to determine the best way to reopen this fall.

It appears it will be a mix of some in-person learning and some continued distance/online learning. Ultimately, it will be up the districts and to parents to determine what our schools like in a couple of months.

There has been lots of discussion of how to keep students safe. Masks. Social distancing. Frequent hand-washing. All great protocols.

But there has not been enough discussion about the other people in the schools who will be at risk. Teachers. Custodians. Food service workers. Bus drivers. Security officers and other support staff.

These adults will be in danger, make no mistake about it. They will be exposed to the coronavirus. They might not catch it. But it will be in the schools. There simply will be too many asymptomatic students who will be in the schools.

We all have seen how much more deadly this virus is to adults, and some of our teachers and staff are in the at-risk groups.

How will we protect them? How can we clean all of the contact points in school buildings? How will we pay for extra staff who will constantly clean, and then thoroughly disinfect overnight? And where will the money come for the equipment needed to do that?

The president and secretary of education haven’t addressed those issues. Rather than bluster about making threats on Twitter, we would recommend that the administration promise to provide funding for extra staff and equipment.

We won’t hold our breaths for that to happen.

So we place our confidence in local school districts, who for many years have done a terrific job protecting and educating our children. We believe they will come up with a plan that will work, both for those parents who want their children in school and those who do not.

We will do our part to help inform the community about those steps so that parents have the facts they need to make the best decision for their children.

What we need here is a thoughtful, careful approach, not threats by those who haven’t spent a lot of time in public schools and have no understanding of the challenges ahead.