The Iowa State Education Association (ISEA) is the largest teacher’s union in Iowa and is the state affiliate of the National Education Association. ¹ It represents more than 31,000 members. ²

History and Leadership

The president of the Iowa State Education Association is Michael J. Baranek, a former third-grade teacher from West Des Moines. ³ He has been ISEA’s president since 2018. ⁴

ISEA executive director Coy Marquardt is married to former Democratic state representative and current Linn County Supervisor Kirsten Running-Marquardt. ⁵

In 2020 to 2021, the ISEA reported having 31,966 members. ⁶

In 2017 state laws were amended to limit the scope of mandatory collective bargaining topics for most government-worker unions, including ISEA, as well as to eliminate payroll deductions for union dues. ⁷ The ISEA sued to block the changes to the law but lost at the summary judgement stage in state district court when the judge ruled that the state government was within its power to make those changes. ⁸ The ISEA appealed the ruling to the Iowa Supreme Court, which unanimously ruled against the union.⁹

Advocacy and Political Activity

The Iowa State Education Association opposes educational choice programs, supports increased pay and benefits for teachers, advocates for rolling back the 2017 changes to Iowa’s government-worker bargaining laws, and opposes standardized testing and other efforts to increase accountability for schools and educators. ¹⁰

In 2020, ISEA leadership opposed the state’s COVID 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. ¹¹ 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. ¹² 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. ¹³

In 2023, 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. ¹⁴ A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction to keep the law from going into effect until the case was resolved. ^{15 16}

ISEA PAC

The ISEA operates the ISEA Political Action Committee (PAC) to influence federal, state, and local-level elections. ¹⁷

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. ¹⁸

While the ISEA PAC largely supports Democratic Party candidates, it does occasionally support Republicans, as in 2022 when 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). ¹⁹ The State House was expected to consider legislation to create education savings accounts that the ISEA strongly opposes. ²⁰

1. “About Isea.” Iowa State Education Association. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.isea.org/about-isea.
2. Antonucci, Mike. “Membership Dropped 70,000, Revenues Grew $49m for NEA & Affiliates during COVID.” The 74, June 7, 2023. https://www.the74million.org/article/membership-dropped-70000-revenues-grew-49m-for-nea-affiliates-during-covid/.
3. “Our President.” Iowa State Education Association. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.isea.org/about-isea-progress/our-leaders/our-president.
4. “Our President.” Iowa State Education Association. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.isea.org/about-isea-progress/our-leaders/our-president.
5. “Our Executive Director.” Iowa State Education Association. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.isea.org/about-isea/our-leaders/our-executive-director.
6. Antonucci, Mike. “Membership Dropped 70,000, Revenues Grew $49m for NEA & Affiliates during COVID.” The 74, June 7, 2023. https://www.the74million.org/article/membership-dropped-70000-revenues-grew-49m-for-nea-affiliates-during-covid/.
7. Waterman, Thomas D. “Iowa State Education Association and Davenport Education Association v. State of Iowa, Iowa Public Employment Relations Board, et Al.” Iowa Supreme Court, May 17, 2019. https://www.iowacourts.gov/courtcases/4443/embed/SupremeCourtOpinion
8. Waterman, Thomas D. “Iowa State Education Association and Davenport Education Association v. State of Iowa, Iowa Public Employment Relations Board, et Al.” Iowa Supreme Court, May 17, 2019. https://www.iowacourts.gov/courtcases/4443/embed/SupremeCourtOpinion
9. Waterman, Thomas D. “Iowa State Education Association and Davenport Education Association v. State of Iowa, Iowa Public Employment Relations Board, et Al.” Iowa Supreme Court, May 17, 2019. https://www.iowacourts.gov/courtcases/4443/embed/SupremeCourtOpinion
10. “Advocacy Center.” Iowa State Education Association. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.isea.org/advocacy-center.
11. Broxton, Deion. “Iowa Teachers Union Head ‘disappointed’ in State’s New School Guidelines.” KGAN-TV, July 31, 2020. https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/iowa-teachers-union-head-disappointed-in-states-new-school-guidelines.
12. Broxton, Deion. “Iowa Teachers Union Head ‘disappointed’ in State’s New School Guidelines.” KGAN-TV, July 31, 2020. https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/iowa-teachers-union-head-disappointed-in-states-new-school-guidelines.
13. James, Bob. “Iowa State Education Association Displeased with DOE Guidelines.” 98.1 KHAK, July 2, 2020. https://khak.com/iowa-state-education-association-displeased-with-doe-guidelines/.
14. Beck, Margery A. “Publishing Industry Heavy-Hitters Sue Iowa over State’s New School Book-Banning Law.” Associated Press, November 30, 2023. https://apnews.com/article/iowa-book-ban-lawsuit-penguin-random-house-6151ad31b6d36a8469be983686340f2a.
15. Hessburg, Jean. “Statement on Court Injunction for SF 496.” Iowa State Education Association, December 29, 2023. https://www.isea.org/about-isea/media-center/press-releases/statement-court-injunction-sf-496.
16. Locher, Stephen H. “GLBT Youth in Iowa Schools Task Force et al v. Reynolds.” United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, December 29, 2023. https://www.publishersweekly.com/binary-data/ARTICLE_ATTACHMENT/file/000/006/6425-1.pdf.
17. “Political Action.” Iowa State Education Association. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.isea.org/advocacy-center/political-action.
18. Author’s calculations from public filings provided by Iowa Ethics Campaign Disclosure Board “Web Reporting System.” Accessed April 29, 2024. https://webapp.iecdb.iowa.gov/publicReports/state-reports.
19. Vander Hart, Shane. “Five Iowa House Republicans Took Money from Teachers’ Union Pac.” The Iowa Torch, May 20, 2022. https://iowatorch.com/2022/05/20/five-iowa-house-republicans-took-money-from-teachers-union-pac/.
20. Vander Hart, Shane. “Five Iowa House Republicans Took Money from Teachers’ Union Pac.” The Iowa Torch, May 20, 2022. https://iowatorch.com/2022/05/20/five-iowa-house-republicans-took-money-from-teachers-union-pac/.