An Iowa substitute teacher lost her job and unemployment benefits after a judge found she offered high school students extra credit for donations to her personal GoFundMe for an Ecuador trip.
Stephanie Mullaley, a full-time long-term substitute at Clinton Community School District, was terminated May 29 after district officials accused her of violating ethics rules by tying classroom grades to cash for her own travel plans.
Reporting on the case detailed how an administrative law judge later blocked her unemployment claim, finding the conduct showed a willful disregard of her employer’s interests and left students feeling pressured to pay.
Mullaley set up a personal GoFundMe seeking $1,800 for a July medical mission trip to Ecuador with her husband, Nick.
The page took in only $140 from six donations, ranging from $5 to $50. The fundraiser has since been deleted.
Administrative Law Judge Duane Golden found she crossed a bright line inside the classroom.
"(She) promised high school students in her class that they would receive extra credit toward their grade in her class if they donated to her GoFundMe account. Students felt pressured to donate money to her personal GoFundMe page,"
Golden wrote, according to the account of his ruling. He concluded the episode demonstrated a “willful or wanton disregard” of the school district’s interests and made her ineligible for benefits.
On Facebook, Mullaley framed the journey in spiritual and service terms.
"Nick & I are embarking on a journey this summer with a medical mission group,"
she wrote, adding that the idea had been “only a thought a year ago” until “an official invitation end of 2025.”
"Feels like a blessing to have an opportunity to serve a community in need of medical service and utilize my skills and serve. God put this in place for us, and we’re answering it,"
She asked for support and said those who could not give should keep them in their prayers.
Fundraiser wording described her role as interpreting, “Helping bridge language barriers so that care and compassion can reach those who need it most”, while Nick would be “assisting the team in any way he can.” Money was meant to cover transportation, food, and hotels.
In class, the pitch took a harder edge. Students heard that the “unique opportunity to travel to Ecuador” would “pay for her education,” with extra credit on the table for those who donated.
Clinton Community School District fired her on May 29 for allegedly violating its ethics policy. The full policy text was not laid out in the ruling summary, but the district’s move was clear: a teacher cannot hold grades over students’ heads to fill a personal fundraising goal.
Golden’s unemployment decision backed that judgment. Classroom authority is not a private ATM. When students believe their marks depend on writing a check, the power imbalance is obvious and the pressure is real.
The numbers underscore how little the pitch delivered and how much trust it cost. An $1,800 target. Six gifts. $140 total. A deleted page. A pink slip. No benefits.
No criminal charges, license action, or civil suit appear in the available record. The case turned on employment and unemployment rules, and on whether dangling extra credit for cash crossed the line. The judge said it did.
Parents send kids to school for instruction, not to underwrite a teacher’s summer itinerary. Taxpayers fund classrooms so grades reflect work, not donations. When that bargain breaks, districts have every right to act, and unemployment systems are not a soft landing for willful ethics breaches.
Teachers who want to serve abroad can raise money the ordinary way, off the clock, without the gradebook as leverage. Students should never have to wonder whether a few dollars buys a better mark.
