HARRISBURG — Vice President Mike Pence will make another law-and-order-themed pitch in the presidential battleground of Pennsylvania, as former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign delivered its own message of how schools should be reopened during the coronavirus pandemic.

In an online appearance with Pittsburgh-area teachers, Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., stressed the need to let state and local authorities decide when it is safe to reopen schools, albeit with strong federal guidance.

That differs from the lack of guidance from President Donald Trump’s administration, Casey said, coupled with a political approach by Trump that Casey summed up as “he’s going to bully school districts on when to reopen. It’s not his decision.”

The message comes as superintendents warn that fights over whether to reopen schools are tearing apart communities.

They also warn that superintendents and school boards lack strong public health guidance from the state and are overwhelmed by the cost to protect health and prepare for online school.

With Pennsylvania’s largest school districts, including Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, headed toward an online opening in fall, the Biden campaign is stressing that decisions should rest on safety.

The teachers on the call were members of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, which has endorsed Biden for president.

On Thursday, Pence will address a “cops for Trump” campaign event at the Greensburg Police Department, in Westmoreland County, where Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton two-to-one in 2016’s election.

After that, Pence will discuss reopening the economy at the headquarters of a maker of industrial sealants and adhesives in nearby Somerset.

Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016 by less than 1 percentage point. His victory in the state helped pave his way to the White House, and shifted Pennsylvania’s electoral votes to the Republican column for the first time since 1988.

Pence appeared earlier this month at an event with Philadelphia police, as Trump tries to win over suburbanites by promising to protect their neighborhoods from the racial unrest that has gripped some U.S. cities this summer.