“Teachers shouldn’t have to rush to find dollars for school supplies.”
The scene has been described as degrading and dystopian.
In it, a dozen school teachers from South Dakota, in the United States, compete to accumulate the largest amount of US $ 1 bills, out of a total of US $ 5,000, that have been scattered in the middle of a hockey field in ice.
In the video that went viral, teachers are seen with helmets on their heads, crawling while they put between their clothes what they manage to pick up with their hands, for which they had five minutes.
The contest was part of a charity event held last Saturday called “Dash for Cash”, which in Spanish translates as “race for cash,” for which its organizers had to apologize to the wave of outrage and protest it caused.
Educators, who often receive low wages from the US, said the money would be spent on school supplies.
The president of the Federation of Teachers of the USA, Randi Weingarten, tweeted saying that the event was “degrading”.
He added: “Teachers shouldn’t have to rush to find dollars for school supplies.”
Monday, the local hockey team and the bank that donated the money apologized.
“While our intent was to provide a fun and positive experience for teachers, we can see how degrading and insulting it was for them and the teaching profession,” the Sioux Falls Stampede and CU Mortgage Direct Bank said in a statement.
“We are deeply sorry and apologize to all teachers for any embarrassment this may have caused them.”
They explained that they received applications from 31 teachers and selected ten at random to appear in the contest on the ice.
Each teacher received at least $ 500, they said, adding that each of the teachers was introduced before the event.
Each of them will now receive another US $ 500 and another US $ 500 will be awarded to the other 21 teachers who were not selected for the competition.
for school supplies
The teachers told the local newspaper Argus Leader that the money would be spent on desks and cameras to upload teaching materials online.
Some critical voices compared the event to Netflix’s hit Korean TV series, “The squid game” (Squid Game), in which competitors fight to the death for a cash prize.
Others called it “humiliating” and pointed to the many ways teachers have fought under the pandemic.
South Dakota teachers earn a salary of about $ 49,000 per year, making them some of the lowest paid in the country. The state ranks last in education spending in the US.
It is not unusual for teachers in public schools in the US, where funding for education is sometimes insufficient, to be forced to buy supplies for their classes with their own money or with the help of friends, family and others. sources of donations.
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
