Education Minnesota responds to executive orders targeting education
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CHRIS WILLIAMS
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ST. PAUL, Minnesota. Jan. 29, 2025 – Education Minnesota said educators and parents would successfully resist the the executive orders issued Tuesday evening by President Donald Trump, which promised sweeping and illegal changes to American education.
“These executive orders will be challenged in court and the administration’s track record so far suggests its overreach is matched by its incompetence,” said Denise Specht, president of Education Minnesota. “America does not have a federal system of public education. Public schools are governed by states and school boards. There are limits to the harm the White House can do to Minnesota students.”
One executive order instructs federal agencies to find ways to favor private and religious schools that can, and do, discriminate against students based on their gender, religion and learning needs. The other order targets trans students while encouraging schools to whitewash America history to conform with the political viewpoints of the administration.
“Minnesotans are proud of their public schools and want them to succeed for all students, no matter their race, gender, ZIP code or gender,” Specht said. “We will not quietly accept these attempts to defund our schools, harass our educators, terrorize our trans students or restrict the freedom to teach an honest history about our nation, both the triumphs and the times our nation felt short of our ideals. Educators believe every Minnesota student deserves a safe, welcoming and effective school; hateful and grandiose executive orders will not change that.”
Education Minnesota will withhold additional comments about the executive orders until it has time for a closer analysis of their contents.
About Education Minnesota
Education Minnesota is the voice for professional educators and students. Education Minnesota’s members include teachers and education support professionals in Minnesota’s public school districts, faculty members at Minnesota’s community and technical colleges and University of Minnesota campuses in Duluth and Crookston, retired educators and student teachers. Education Minnesota is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.
