Iowa State Education Association: A History of Advocacy and Influence

The Iowa State Education Association (ISEA) stands as the largest teacher's union in Iowa and the state affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA). Representing over 31,000 members, the ISEA has a long and storied history of advocating for educators, shaping education policy, and influencing elections in Iowa.

Origins and Early Years: The Iowa State Teachers Association

The ISEA's roots trace back to 1854, when it was founded as the Iowa State Teachers Association (ISTA). John A. Parvin served as the first chairman of the organization. In 1863, women were allowed to join the organization, marking an early step toward inclusivity.

Between 1882 and 1911, the ISTA actively lobbied the Iowa State Legislature to improve education by advocating for rigid requirements for teacher certification. This early focus on professional standards laid the groundwork for the ISEA's later advocacy efforts.

Transition and Growth: The Rise of the ISEA

Under the leadership of Agnes Samuelson, the ISTA executive secretary in the late 1930s and 1940s, the organization transitioned into the ISEA. This period marked a shift towards a more comprehensive approach to advocating for teachers and education.

In 1948, the ISEA joined forces with the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation to lobby for key issues, including sick leave for teachers, increased state aid to schools, and the creation of a state Board of Public Instruction. This collaboration demonstrated the ISEA's commitment to building partnerships and working towards common goals.

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Membership and Structure

The ISEA is composed of 34,000 members, which are mainly classroom teachers but also includes school support staff workers, retired teachers, area education agency employees and community college faculty.

Core Missions and Activities

The ISEA engages in a wide range of activities to support its members and promote quality education in Iowa. These include:

Educational Quality Program: Providing financial resources and staff assistance to teachers and communities seeking to improve education.
High Standards Program: Monitoring the state's Department of Education to ensure that rules and regulations maintain the "highest professional standards."
Professional Development: Offering training and support to enhance teachers' skills and knowledge.
Public Advocacy: Promoting education and educational needs to the public through campaigns that aim to increase community involvement.
Lobbying: Actively engaging in the political process through the ISEA Political Action Committee (ISEA-PAC) to influence legislation and elections.
Collective Bargaining: Assisting teachers in the collective bargaining process to ensure fair wages, benefits, and working conditions.

Political Advocacy and Influence

The ISEA operates the ISEA Political Action Committee (PAC) to influence federal, state, and local-level elections. The ISEA-PAC, established in 1970, is a standing committee of the ISEA executive board.

In 2023, the ISEA PAC reported \$242,017.92 in contributions, \$71,994.67 in expenditures and had \$354,509.65 cash on hand at the end of the year. While the ISEA PAC largely supports Democratic Party candidates, it does occasionally support Republicans. For example, in 2022, it made donations to five Republican members of the Iowa House of Representatives, including a \$2,500 donation to then-Education Committee chair Rep. Dustin Hite (R-New Sharon).

The State House was expected to consider legislation to create education savings accounts that the ISEA strongly opposes.

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Key Issues and Positions

The ISEA has consistently advocated for specific policies and positions related to education in Iowa. Some of the key issues and positions include:

Opposing educational choice programs: The ISEA is a staunch opponent of voucher programs and other initiatives that divert public funds to private schools.
Supporting increased pay and benefits for teachers: The ISEA advocates for competitive salaries and benefits packages to attract and retain qualified educators.
Advocating for rolling back the 2017 changes to Iowa’s government-worker bargaining laws: The ISEA seeks to restore collective bargaining rights for teachers and other public employees.
Opposing standardized testing and other efforts to increase accountability for schools and educators: The ISEA believes that standardized tests are not an accurate measure of student learning and can lead to a narrow focus on test preparation.

Recent Challenges and Controversies

The ISEA has faced several challenges and controversies in recent years, including:

The 2017 changes to Iowa's government-worker bargaining laws: These changes limited the scope of mandatory collective bargaining topics for most government-worker unions, including the ISEA, and eliminated payroll deductions for union dues. The ISEA sued to block the changes but lost in state district court.
The state's COVID policies in 2020: The ISEA opposed the state's policies, which required teachers who had been exposed to COVID-19 to return to school in four days so long as they had not tested positive and were asymptomatic. The ISEA's preferred policy was for teachers who had been exposed to stay out of school for two weeks, even if they had tested negative for infection. The ISEA was also opposed to the state Department of Education's July 2020 guidelines discouraging school districts from requiring students and staff to wear masks and called for mandatory masking for all students and staff.
The 2023 lawsuit against Iowa's school book-banning law: A collection of plaintiffs including the ISEA, publisher Penguin Random House, authors, teachers, and students sued to block implementation of an Iowa law prohibiting books other than religious texts that include written and visual depictions of sex acts from being included in school libraries. A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction to keep the law from going into effect until the case was resolved.

Leadership

As of September 2025, Joshua Brown is the president of ISEA. He has also represented ISEA within the National Education Association (NEA), including serving on its Board of Directors, Resolutions Committee, and Strategic Plan and Budget Committee, as well as holding a national leadership role with the National Council of Urban Education Associations. ISEA executive director Coy Marquardt is married to former Democratic state representative and current Linn County Supervisor Kirsten Running-Marquardt.

Financial Overview

The following is a breakdown of ISEA's revenue from membership dues, total revenue and expenses for the 2010-2014 fiscal years, as reported to the IRS.

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