Video of South Dakota teachers scrambling for dollar bills at hockey rink draws outrage

A video of teachers scooping dollar bills into their shirts on the ice at a hockey rink during an event Saturday has gone viral as critics on social media called the contest cruel and dystopian.

The event, dubbed Dash for Cash, involved 10 teachers in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, area scrambling to collect single dollar bills from a pile of $5,000. The money, which was donated by South Dakota business CU Mortgage Direct, was meant to go toward the teachers’ classrooms or schools, according to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, part of the USA TODAY Network.

The contest took place during a Sioux Falls Stampede hockey game. Each of the teachers got hundreds of dollars, from $378 to $616.

Ryan Knudson, director of business development and marketing for CU Mortgage Direct, told the Argus Leader, "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.

"The teachers in this area, and any teacher, they deserve whatever the heck they get.”

Alexandria Kuyper, a fifth grade teacher who participated in the event, told the outlet, "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."

Video of the event exploded on social media. One clip shared by Annie Todd, a reporter at the Argus Leader, racked up nearly 15 million views as of Monday afternoon.

But many social media users called the clip grim and a reflection of funding problems for schools across the country.

Opinion: 'Dash for Cash' provided a strong metaphor for chronic education underfunding, teacher pay

Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Teachers 'Dash for Cash' for classroom improvements at Stampede game

Others compared the clip to the violent series “Squid Game,” which aired on Netflix this year. The show is about contestants playing deadly versions of children’s games to win money.

After the contest, Sioux Falls Education Association president Tim Eckart said, "While this event was a well-intentioned gesture from our community, it really highlights the meager funding structure our teachers must work through to provide a high-quality education to our students," the Argus Leader reported.

"No educator should have to crawl on their hands and knees to supply proper educational tools for our students,” he said.

The average salary for teachers in South Dakota in 2020, $48,984, put the state in 50th place in rankings of teacher pay across the country, according to the National Education Association. The state was ahead only of Mississippi.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: South Dakota event with teachers dashing for cash draws outrage