An Iowa substitute teacher has been fired from her post for allegedly pressuring her students to help fund her “medical mission” to Ecuador. Stephanie Mullaley promised them extra credit for donating to her GoFundMe page. Iowa Capital Dispatch reported that the trip was planned in July but her action came to notice that and she was removed in May.“(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,” Administrative Law Judge Duane Golden said.Despite such arm-twisting, Mullaley could gather only $140 as against her target of $1800. The fundraiser was deleted.“Nick & I are embarking on a journey this summer with a medical mission group,” Mullaley wrote on a Facebook post alongside the link to the defunct fundraiser. “This was only a thought a year ago, and it became real when we got 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 wrote. “Hope to have your support, and if you can’t financially, we understand and just keep us in your prayers.”Mullaley pleaded with her students that the experience would “pay for her education” because it was a “unique opportunity to travel to Ecuador” where she would be interpreting the mission trip. “Helping bridge language barriers so that care and compassion can reach those who need it most,” and that her husband would be “assisting the team in any way he can,” Mullaley wrote.The judge denied ex-teacher unemployment benefits and said the teacher demonstrated a “willful or wanton disregard” of her employer’s interests.
