Social Media is an complete outrage after footage surfaced showing a competition pitting 10 teachers against each other to scramble for dollar bills to fund school supplies in a city in South Dakota. The game has been described as “demeaning” and drawn comparisons with the Netflix hit series Squid Game.
The Argus Leader reported $5,000 in single dollar bills were laid out on the ice skating rink during the Sioux Falls Stampede hockey game on Saturday. Teachers from nearby schools competed to grab as many as possible in less than five minutes.
“As a teacher, I find this humiliating,” a commenter wrote after video of the event was posted to Twitter. “Scrambling against others on the ground for a few $1 bills? How about honoring teachers with genuine donations rather than turning us into silly entertainment for fans?”
The money was reportedly donated by CU Mortgage Direct to fund teaching supplies and classroom repairs.
“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,” Ryan Knudson, a marketing spokesperson for CU Mortgage Direct, told the Argus Leader.
As you see above, the educators wore hockey helmets, but they made little contact with each other as they dropped to their knees to scoop up money and stuff it into their shirts and pockets.
If you’re wondering, South Dakota ranks toward the bottom in terms of spending on education. The average salary for teachers in the state is $48,984, which makes it 50th in the U.S, according to the National Education Association union.
