Struggling Teachers Were Humiliated By A “Charity Event” That Left Them Scrambling For $1 Bills
A crowd cheered on as teachers collected the dollar bills on their hands and knees.
If you thought the idea of poor people scrambling for money to entertain the rich was just reserved for fictional series like Squid Game, let me introduce you to real life horror of ‘Dash For Cash’.
Despite sounding like it’s straight out of a Black Mirror episode, ‘Dash For Cash’ is real, truly dystopian “charity event” that was held for teachers during a Sioux Falls Stampede hockey game intermission in South Dakota on December 11. During the event, 10 willing teachers had five minutes to get on their hands and knees to scoop up as many $1 bills as possible to earn money to buy school supplies for their students like “standing desks, wobble chairs, or document cameras to upload lessons online”.
According to local newspaper Argus Leader, the ice rink floor was filled with $5,000 USD in single dollar bills donated by CU Mortgage Direct bank, and teachers from the area were able to stuff their clothing full of money as spectators cheered along.
And yes, the footage is just as horrible as it sounds. Take a look for yourself:
JUST IN: An arena in South Dakota is holding a “Dash for Cash” where teachers get on their knees and fight for one dollar bills that they can use for classroom supplies while spectators watch and cheer. (h/t @AnnieTodd96) pic.twitter.com/jIht84Ls9W
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) December 12, 2021
Unsurprisingly when footage of the “humiliating” and “degrading” event made its way online, people weren’t happy. No one could quite understand why the money scattered across the ice hockey arena couldn’t just be evenly split among the “competing” teachers and moreover, why teachers had to fund their own school supplies in the first place.
Sadly, 94 percent of school teachers in the US are forced to spend their own money on supplies, which is super depressing when the House of Representatives just approved the proposed $768 billion USD defence budget last week.
Even Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, spoke out against how “demeaning” it was to basically force teachers to beg for classroom supplies. “This just feels demeaning… teachers shouldn’t have to dash for dollars for classroom supplies,” she tweeted. “No doubt people probably intended it to be fun, but from the outside it feels terrible.”
But the whole thing is made even sadder when you contextualise where exactly the event took place. According to the National Education Association, the national average teacher salary currently sits at $64,133 USD. However, teachers in South Dakota have the one of the lowest teacher pay rates in the US at an average of $48,984 USD per year — only second to Mississippi at a salary of $46,843 USD.
Crazy idea: Instead of making teachers “dash for cash” as sick entertainment, we just give them them money to buy classroom supplies.
— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) December 14, 2021
This is dark https://t.co/1YQjOCnbi4
— Brooklyn White-Grier (@brooklynrwhite) December 13, 2021
HEARTWARMING: Teachers Crawl On Their Hands And Knees In Front Of Thousands Of People To Scramble For A Little Bit Of Money To Buy Supplies For Their Students
— Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) December 12, 2021
Prior to the event, Ryan Knudson, the director of business development and marketing for CU Mortgage Direct told a local newspaper that ‘Dash for Cash’ was an “awesome group thing to do for the teachers… with everything that has gone on for the last couple of years”.
“The teachers in this area, and any teacher, they deserve whatever the heck they get.”
But after noticing the waves of backlash, Sioux Falls Stampede and CU Mortgage Direct have since issued an apology about their event and explained they never intended to degrade, insult or embarrass any of the 10 participating teachers.
“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,” the joint statement read. “We deeply regret and apologise to all teachers for any embarrassment this may have caused.”
During ‘Dash for Cash’ each teacher walked off the ice rink floor with anywhere between $378 USD to $616 USD. But as a way of making amends, Sioux Falls Stampede and CU Mortgage Direct added that they would be giving each teacher an additional $500 USD on top of whatever they managed to grab during the “charity event”.
Along with the 10 competing teachers receiving the additional $500, the other 21 teachers who applied but were not randomly selected to compete in the event also received $500 compensation.
TIME naming a billionaire tax evader who's received billions in govt subsidies 'Person of the Year' while underpaid public school teachers crawl on their hands & knees for $1 bills to buy basic supplies pretty much sums up where we are as a country right now.
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) December 13, 2021
Speaking about the event, Loren Paul, the president of the South Dakota Education Association — the union representing the teachers in the state — shared that despite the good intentions of the event, teachers crawling on the floor for supply money simply highlights the severe lack of funding the education sector gets.
“While the Dash for the Cash may have been well-intentioned, it only underscores the fact that educators don’t have the resources necessary to meet the needs of their students.” President Loren Paul said in a statement.
“As a state, we shouldn’t be forcing teachers to crawl around on an ice rink to get the money they need to fund their classrooms,” he continued.
“We need to do better for our educators, but, more importantly, we must do better for our students.”