St. Paul teachers' union president decries Trump executive orders, says union will fight "authoritarianism"

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The head of the St. Paul teachers' union is calling President Trump's list of executive orders "long and dangerous."

After being sworn in for a second term, Mr. Trump immediately issued a flurry of executive orders and actions covering a wide range of policies, including a rollback of transgender protections and pushing to end birthright citizenship. 

St. Paul Federation of Educators President Leah VanDassor issued a statement Tuesday condemning the executive orders and saying those who support the orders also support "replacing our democracy with an authoritarian dictatorship." 

VanDassor continues by saying the executive orders share common goals of "taking away our freedoms, silencing our voices, tearing families apart, and allowing the billionaire oligarchs to get richer and more powerful at the expense of working people."

The union president ends the statement by saying the union will fight for the people in its community and "fight back against authoritarianism when and where we see it."

Mr. Trump's executive actions also include ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government and putting all federal DEI workers on leave. 

VanDassor also released a statement following the presidential election in November, saying that "white supremacy, sexism, transphobia and xenophobia" played a role in the election. 

Read the union president's full statement on executive orders below: 

"Throughout our history and around the world, people have confronted authoritarian foes by standing with and for each other. Now, thanks to the Justices who aided a criminal conspiracy to overthrow an election, it is our turn to face down the authoritarian Republicans ruling our government. Although Donald Trump was sworn in, his billionaire backers are calling the shots - spreading fear and sowing hatred, controlling our lives and threatening our livelihoods, taking our freedoms and hoarding our wealth. But we know that the many, standing united, can prevail against the money. Joining together, we can resist authoritarian efforts to divide us, refuse to comply with their agenda, and reclaim our birthright: making America live up to its promise of liberty and justice for all - no exceptions.

"Although the list of Executive Orders is long and dangerous, they share common goals; taking away our freedoms, silencing our voices, tearing families apart, and allowing the billionaire oligarchs to get richer and more powerful at the expense of working people. There will be those in the US House, US Senate, and the Minnesota Legislature that will support these orders, because they support replacing our democracy with an authoritarian dictatorship. There will be the temptation to ignore the role that white supremacy, sexism, transphobia, and xenophobia play in these actions. There will be calls that we should "moderate" our goals - focus on economics and ignore everything else. To just put our heads down and try to get by. Some may have that option. But we don't. To do these things would put many of our members, our students, their families, and potentially, our union, at even greater risk.

"SPFE will continue to do what we have always done - fight for, care for, and protect all of the people in our community, stand up for what is right, and calf out and fight back against authoritarianism when and where we see it."

Leah VanDassor
President, Saint Paul Federation of Educators 

VanDassor is a longtime eighth-grade teacher at Highland Park Middle School in St. Paul. She was elected president of the union in 2021. The union is composed of more than 3,500 teachers, educational assistants and other school staff who work at 65 sites in St. Paul Public Schools. 

WCCO reached out to the St. Paul School District, which declined to comment.