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An Iowa high school substitute teacher was fired after offering students extra credit in exchange for cash donations to a personal GoFundMe.
Stephanie Mullaley was a full-time substitute teacher for the Clinton Community School District until she was fired in May over violations of the district’s ethics policy, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported.
During a recent hearing related to Mullaley’s request for unemployment benefits, Administrative Law Judge Duane Golden said the educator set up a GoFundMe to help fund her “personal education goals.”
Mullaley reportedly shared those goals with her students during the 2025-26 school year — and told her pupils they could donate to the GoFundMe to earn extra credit toward their grade.
Some of Mullaley’s students contributed to the fundraiser, according to Golden, who said the district eventually discovered that she was “using her position as a teacher to pressure students to donate funds” and fired her.
An Iowa substitute teacher was fired after offering students extra credit for donating to a GoFundMe she planned to use to fund a trip to Ecuador (Google Maps)
The judge denied Mullaley’s request for unemployment benefits, arguing that her actions amounted to job-related misconduct.
He argued that Mullaley showed a “willful or wanton disregard” of the school district’s interests — making her ultimately ineligible for benefits.
Mullaley “promised high school students in her class that they would receive extra credit toward their grade in their class if they donated to her GoFundMe account. Students felt pressured to donate money to her personal GoFundMe,” Golden said.
In the GoFundMe, which reportedly had a target of $1,800, Mullaley wrote that the funds would be used to pay for “a unique opportunity to travel to Ecuador” with her husband in July 2026, according to the report.
She indicated on the fundraising page that she would be “interpreting for a medical mission team (and) helping bridge language barriers so that care and compassion can reach those who need it most.”
She added that her husband would be “assisting the team in any way he can.”
The donations would be used to pay for “transportation, including flights, buses, and boats, food and hotel accommodations,” she wrote. She reportedly received a total of $140 through six donations ranging from $5 to $50.
The Independent ‘s attempts to contact Mullaley were unsuccessful.
