A competition pitting 10 teachers against each other to scramble for dollar bills to fund school supplies in a city in South Dakota has been described as “demeaning” and drawn comparisons with the Netflix hit series Squid Game.
The local newspaper the Argus Leader reported $5,000 (£3,770) in single dollar bills were laid out on the ice skating rink during the Sioux Falls Stampede hockey game on Saturday night, and the teachers from nearby schools competed to grab as many as possible in less than five minutes.
Footage of the competition that went viral on social media showed teachers stuffing the notes down their jumpers and into hats while the audience cheered.
The money was reportedly donated by CU Mortgage Direct to fund teaching supplies and classroom repairs.
The company and the Sioux Falls Stampede later apologised for the competition, following widespread backlash.
“Although our intent was to provide a positive and fun experience for teachers, we can see how it appears to be degrading and insulting towards the participating teachers and the teaching profession as a whole,” they said in a joint statement.
Earlier, American Federation of Teachers president, Randi Weingarten, tweeted that the display was demeaning. “This just feels demeaning … teachers shouldn’t have to dash for dollars for classroom supplies,” she said. No doubt people probably intended it to be fun, but from the outside it feels terrible.”
This just feels demeaning .. teachers shouldn’t have to dash for dollars for classroom supplies… No doubt people probably intended it to be fun, but from the outside it feels terrible https://t.co/bb14T5sPc4
— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) December 13, 2021
On social media the “dash for cash” footage was described as “humiliating” and “dystopian”. Some people likened the footage to scenes from Squid Game or the Hunger Games franchise.
The teachers involved in the competition appreciated the cash and said they planned to use it to buy flexible seating, such as standing desks or wobble chairs, or document cameras so they could upload lessons online, the Argus Leader reported.
“I think it’s really cool when the community offers an opportunity like this for things that educators a lot of times pay out of pocket for,” Alexandria Kuyper, a fifth-grade teacher at Discovery elementary school said.
