Viral Videos Show Teachers Fighting Over $1 Bills To Fund Their Classrooms
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by .When videos from a Sioux Falls fundraiser showing teachers on their hands and knees grabbing $1 bills to fund their classrooms went viral, social media users were rightfully outraged In today’s edition of “we live in a literal dystopian nightmare,” a group of teachers from South Dakota inadvertently went viral over the weekend. The viral […]
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When videos from a Sioux Falls fundraiser showing teachers on their hands and knees grabbing $1 bills to fund their classrooms went viral, social media users were rightfully outraged
In today’s edition of “we live in a literal dystopian nightmare,” a group of teachers from South Dakota inadvertently went viral over the weekend. The viral moment went down during a hockey game fundraiser that was reportedly meant to help support their need for classroom supplies. Videos from the fundraiser, hosted by the Sioux Falls Stampede Hockey Club, show 10 local teachers on their hands and knees, scrambling to grab and hold onto as many $1 bills as they could during the intermission of a Saturday game, with people swiftly calling the event out for being deeply dystopian and cruel.
At the Premier Center for the Stampede game where after the first period local teacher will participate in the first-ever Dash For Cash. $5,000 is up for grabs for teachers to use in their classrooms. pic.twitter.com/8dqcI7QTRe
— Annie Todd (@AnnieTodd96) December 12, 2021
The local team hosted the inaugural “Dash for Cash” event, inviting fans at the game to cheer on the group of teachers as they gathered around the center of the ice, wearing hockey helmets and dropping to their knees to scour as many $1 bills out of $5,000 as they possibly could, stuffing the cash into their shirts, pockets, pants, and shoes.
Reporter Annie Todd of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader shared videos from the event on Twitter, where they quickly went viral — although not for the reasons event organizers likely hoped for.
Ever wonder what $5,000 one dollar bills look like? pic.twitter.com/q4M1dkorn5
— Annie Todd (@AnnieTodd96) December 12, 2021
The teachers are ready pic.twitter.com/sRh0EgbCCu
— Annie Todd (@AnnieTodd96) December 12, 2021
Here they go! pic.twitter.com/G0MH3Y1VXU
— Annie Todd (@AnnieTodd96) December 12, 2021
Almost done! pic.twitter.com/K8Rr83uzui
— Annie Todd (@AnnieTodd96) December 12, 2021
With teachers nationwide severely underpaid in already underfunded schools — all after adapting to the past two years of teaching amid a global pandemic both virtually and in person — it didn’t take long for the videos to rack up millions of views, with plenty of people calling out the event for being dehumanizing and dystopian. Some also compared it to the recent Netflix hit Squid Game, in which characters from the Korean series compete in deadly games to win a giant piggy bank full of cash.
Yes, yes it’s just so heartwarming… underpaid teachers who take responsibility for 25-30 of other people’s children per class and risk COVID for peanuts crawling around on an icy floor for dollar bills as a public spectacle because they can’t afford classroom supplies. Quite.
https://t.co/py5JZTPie0
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid
(@JoyAnnReid) December 13, 2021
Only in America do public school teachers race one another to scrounge around on the floor to collect $1 bills in order to… *checks notes* fund their classrooms.
This isn't heartwarming. It's dysfunctional, dystopian shit.pic.twitter.com/S7RXOuHoHf
— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) December 12, 2021
Disgusting & dehumanizing. Tax billionaires already. This is dystopian.
South Dakota arena holds a “Dash for Cash” where teachers get on their knees & fight for $1 bills to use for class supplies as people watch & cheer.
SD ranks 29th in K-12 educationpic.twitter.com/JCaLabloYd
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) December 13, 2021
Americans: “Teachers & school staff are the backbone of society”
Also Americans: “Fire them for teaching about racism, scream at them for worrying about Covid safety, do nothing to stop school shootings & don’t pay them enough & instead watch them grab for cash as entertainment” https://t.co/UKwSl2giQQ
— Sari Beth Rosenberg (@saribethrose) December 13, 2021
My mother was a public school teacher in South Dakota. She also worked as a waitress and housekeeper to make ends meet. This video shows how SD teachers are humiliated just to fund their classrooms today. Imagine the US military having to do this for their money. https://t.co/6ZaVXIowjc
— Nick Estes (@nickwestes) December 13, 2021
In a statement to the local news outlet, Ryan Knudson, Director of Business Development and Marketing for CU Mortgage Direct, the company that donated the funds, 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,” adding, “The teachers in this area, and any teacher, they deserve whatever the heck they get.”
The participating teachers revealed plans to buy cameras for classroom use, flexible seating, such as standing desks or wobble chairs, or sports equipment for their teams. Alexandria Kuyper, a fifth grade teacher at Discovery Elementary School, said, “I think it’s really cool when the community offers an opportunity like this for things that educations a lot of times pay out of pocket for.”
According to the National Education Association union, South Dakota pays an average salary of $48,984 for teachers in the state — 50th in the country, including Washington, D.C. So while it seems the event was created with good intentions, it’s not surprising why some feel it might have been better to just split the cash evenly between each teacher and spare them from having to crawl on their hands and knees for it.
For what it’s worth, the highest-earning recipient from the event scored $616, while the lowest received $379.
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