A “demeaning” competition in which almost a dozen American schoolteachers scrambled on the floor for dollar bills to pay for vital classroom supplies as a crowd cheered has prompted a backlash online.
The game, which occurred at half-time during an ice hockey match in South Dakota on Saturday night, has even drawn comparisons to the popular Netflix series Squid Game, where indebted people are forced to compete in deadly contests for money.
Local media reported that $5,000 (£3,780) in single dollar bills were laid out on the ice during the Sioux Falls Stampede hockey game and ten teachers from nearby schools attempted to grab as many as possible in five minutes.
Footage of the competition, dubbed “Dash for Cash”, was widely viewed on social media. It showed the teachers kneeling on a mat with helmets on stuffing notes down their jumpers, into pockets and hats while onlookers cheered.
The money was donated by CU Mortgage Direct to fund teaching supplies and classroom repairs at underfunded schools.
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The teachers involved said that they appreciated the cash. “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, told the Argus Leader, a local paper. She came away with $592 (£450).
When the spectacle ended, the teachers smiled and waved to the crowd.
Ryan Knudson, a marketing spokesperson for CU Mortgage Direct, said: “With everything that has gone on for the last couple of years with teachers and everything, we thought it was an awesome group thing to do for the teachers.”
However, the affair drew an angry response online from teachers and organisations that represent them.
South Dakota ranks below most other US states in education spending. The average salary for teachers in the state is $48,984, putting it second bottom, according to the National Education Association union.
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“As a teacher, I find this humiliating,” one Twitter user wrote. “Scrambling against others on the ground for a few $1 bills? How about honouring teachers with genuine donations rather than turning us into silly entertainment for fans?”
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said: “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.”