(August 19, 2025) School is starting. Most teachers are going to have a great year, but for many reasons, some will not. In most jobs, if conditions are poor, if you are reassigned to a position you weren’t hired for, or if a new opportunity comes along, you can resign. You might lose a bonus or sour a reference, but your professional license isn’t at risk.
Not so for Iowa teachers, who face over a thousand dollars in fines and suspension of the license that allows them to work. Compare that to other essential fields. Nurses and doctors can be disciplined for malpractice, not for leaving a hospital. Police officers can lose certification for misconduct, not for resigning. Firefighters might owe repayment for training, but no state board takes away their right to work if they walk away.
Teachers stand alone. In most professions, when working conditions are bad, people can walk. Employers must respond or risk losing talent. Teachers can’t “vote with their feet” without risking their careers. The system loses its natural pressure valve. The status quo hardens.
There’s history here. In the 19th century, teaching became one of the few jobs open to women. School boards liked hiring women because they were paid less. Prejudice led some to believe women needed to be obedient and required control. Early contracts reflect that mindset. Teachers were banned from dating, marrying, or becoming pregnant, told what to wear, where to be seen, even required to be home by 8 p.m.
Those clauses are gone, but echoes remain. Today, contract enforcement still punishes teachers in ways unknown to other professions. Yesterday’s morality clauses are reframed for today in laws like Oklahoma’s new “America First” test requiring teachers relocating from other states to prove they aren’t “woke.” Given Iowa’s legislative track record, copycat efforts wouldn’t be surprising.
Other countries take a different path. In Canada, the UK, and Australia, disputes over teacher contracts aren’t handled as threats to their license. These nations also outperform the U.S. on international math and literacy benchmarks like the PISA exam. The evidence is clear. Punishing teachers for mobility doesn’t improve education.
So why does it continue here? Is it really because schools can’t function without locking teachers down? Or is it because teaching has always been treated as a profession to be controlled rather than respected, and is shaped by the bias embedded in its demographic history?
Shouldn’t teachers have the same freedom every other professional enjoys, the right to make decisions about their careers, the right to be trusted, the right to walk away? If Iowa wants to fix our teacher shortage, we might start by treating teachers like the rest of us want to be treated. Perhaps more people would sign up.
Sources
Iowa Board of Educational Examiners, Teacher Contract Enforcement Guidelines
Iowa Code § 279 (Contracts with Teachers)
Oklahoma HB 2077, “America First” Teacher Certification Exam (2024)
OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Results
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics