The people who educate your children and grandchildren don’t like President Trump, or for that matter, Republicans in general. This isn’t news but the fact that a political ad in support of Joe Biden has been rejected by Fox News Channel (FNC) for inaccuracies is a new twist.

A piece on the liberal site Huffington Post reports that the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has purchased ad time during the RNC’s primetime convention activities tonight and tomorrow night, the last two nights of the convention. While the floundering, ratings-challenged CNN gratefully accepted the ad revenue, happy to air a 30-second anti-Trump, FNC has rejected it.

The subject of the hit against Trump (and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell) centers around the coronavirus and his administration’s response to the pandemic. Specifically, their concern is over the supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) for teachers in the classroom.

The 30-second spot from the American Federation of Teachers’ super PAC, AFT Solidarity, slams Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for what the union says is failure to provide adequate personal protective equipment to educators and plan for a safe return to public schools during the coronavirus outbreak.

“Enough is enough,” the ad says. “This November, say ‘no’ to Trump and McConnell’s chaos.”

The AFT endorsed Joe Biden for president in March. It is the second-largest teacher’s labor union in America but the union’s president, Randi Weingarten, is often seen on cable news networks, including FNC. The union is very active politically and always comes down on the side of the Democrat Party.

FNC denies rejecting the anti-Trump political ad, though. Instead, the network says they just want some inaccuracies corrected and then they’ll consider running the ad. Fact-checking the liberal, Republican-trashing teachers union, eh? I like it.

Fox News’ advertising staff simply told the union the network’s legal department would like to see a “more specific argument” for why it was Trump and McConnell’s responsibility to develop a plan for students to return to public schools, according to the AFT.

That was my question, too. Since when does the president and the Senate Majority Leader set school re-opening policies and are responsible for purchasing the supplies to protect the teachers and their classrooms? President Trump sped up the process of manufacturing sanitizing products and protective equipment already. He did it months ago. McConnell and the Senate have passed financial packages to handle the needs of battling the coronavirus. Why hold Trump and McConnell responsible for decisions that fall to the local school boards and state education requirements? You know why – it’s an election year and this year’s battle between Republicans and Democrats is particularly ugly. Democrats are determined to paint Trump as responsible for every death from the coronavirus. It’s shameful and dishonest but this is where we are.

Democrats, including the teachers, want to keep the country shut down as long as possible. It’s a political calculation on their part as they want Trump and the national economy – his shining success before the pandemic – to suffer. Think of that – putting politics above the country’s recovery and the lives of school children in America. We know that the effects of a long shutdown for children will be felt for a long time. Children need to get back to their normal routine, including going to school with their peers. In the meantime, the coronavirus shutdown has encouraged many parents to take a second look into homeschooling their children and that may be a good thing in the long run.

The union’s PAC has plenty of money for attack ads. It is interesting, though, about the difference in prices for ads between Fox and CNN. We know that CNN has low ratings and Fox usually comes in as the highest-rated cable network. It shows in ad pricing.

AFT Solidarity had planned to spend $180,000 to air the 30-second spot on Fox News once during prime time on Wednesday night and again during prime time on Thursday night.

The union’s super PAC is spending $34,000 for the same arrangement on CNN.

That is quite a difference in pricing, right? I haven’t seen the ad, as it hasn’t aired, but no doubt it will be well-received by CNN viewers.

We have seen some outlandish demands put forward by teachers unions during the pandemic in response to calls for schools reopening. Remember the L.A. teachers demanding everything from defunding police to action on climate change? Good times. None of it is about the children but about raw political power, holding the education of their students hostage while they promote their own agenda. Is it any wonder why the state of public education in this country is in the mess it is? AFT supports “safety strikes”. If school reopening plans don’t meet their demands, the teachers will just strike.

“Let’s be clear: Just as we have done with our health care workers, we will fight on all fronts for the safety of students and their educators,” Weingarten said on Tuesday. “But if the authorities don’t protect the safety and health of those we represent and those we serve, as our executive council voted last week, nothing is off the table — not advocacy or protests, negotiations, grievances or lawsuits, or, if necessary and authorized by a local union, as a last resort, safety strikes.”

Let’s be clear indeed. The federal government shouldn’t be expected to micromanage local school boards. Government solutions using a one-size-fits-all approach are not effective. Secretary DeVos issued a statement at the time of Weingarten’s threat of strikes.

A spokesperson for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Tuesday that “no one is advocating for teachers to be unsafe.”

“Let’s not pretend that Ms. Weingarten’s threat to strike has anything to do with the safety or children or the public,” Education Department spokesperson Angela Morabito said in a statement. “If the unions were really concerned about doing what’s best for students and teachers, they’d be focused on what they need to do to be a partner in reopening schools safely.”

Plans are in place for schools to safely re-open as the pandemic eases and no one expects schools to re-open as long as a community is considered a hot spot. The constant exaggerations for political gain are wearing on parents. Teachers lead by example and this example isn’t a good one at all.