Promotion Sends Teachers Scrambling to Scoop Up Cash. Critics Give It an F.

As an full hockey arena of spectators watched, the competitors jostled astatine halfway ice, not for the puck but for dollar bills — 5,000 of them to beryllium exact.

Ten teachers were selected for a Dash for Cash giveaway astatine a inferior hockey league crippled connected Saturday nighttime successful Sioux Falls, S.D., enticed by the accidental to marque other wealth for schoolroom improvements.

At the signal, the educators got down connected their knees and frantically scooped up arsenic overmuch currency arsenic they could. They stuffed the bills into their shirts arsenic the assemblage murmured.

The giveaway — organized by the Sioux Falls Stampede of the United States Hockey League, successful conjunction with CU Mortgage Direct, a section lending institution — was swiftly and wide criticized arsenic being demeaning to teachers.

Critics said that nary teacher should person to enactment up with the benignant of indignity that unfolded astatine the hockey game. They pointed retired that South Dakota ranks adjacent to past successful teacher pay, averaging $49,000 a year.

Reynold F. Nesiba, a Democratic authorities legislator from Sioux Falls and a prof astatine Augustana University, said connected Monday that portion the organizers of the giveaway were “well intended,” the lawsuit was ill-conceived.

“It conscionable seems insulting and absurd to person teachers doing an lawsuit similar this to rise a fewer 100 dollars for their classrooms,” Mr. Nesiba said. “It besides seems disrespectful to the teachers. What different assemblage would beryllium asked to fund-raise this way?”

A video of the competition, which took spot during the archetypal intermission of the Stampede’s nonaccomplishment to the Tri-City Storm, had been viewed much than 14 cardinal times arsenic of Monday. It drew inevitable comparisons to the dystopian Netflix bid “Squid Game,” successful which hundreds of radical facing fiscal despair play deadly children’s games for the accidental to triumph millions of dollars. It was not the archetypal clip that a U.S.H.L. squad sponsored a currency scramble for teachers: The Green Bay Gamblers held a akin lawsuit a fewer years ago.

“The teachers successful this area, and immoderate teacher, they merit immoderate the heck they get,” the spokesman, Ryan Knudson, told the newspaper.

In an interrogation past week promoting the event, Jim Olander, the hockey team’s president, told the tv presumption KELO that each of the teachers had to explicate what they planned to walk the wealth connected arsenic portion of their applications to vie successful the giveaway.

“Every teacher has a antithetic reason, immoderate of them it’s iPads for the classroom, immoderate of them it’s conscionable caller equipment,” Mr. Olander said. “We cognize this time and property schools are successful request of funding, and we’re conscionable trying to play a tiny portion to assistance them retired and person immoderate amusive portion doing it.”

The teachers each collected $378 to $616, The Argus Leader reported. In summation to getting to support the money, $5 from each crippled summons sold by the teachers went to their schools, KELO reported.

Several of the teachers did not instantly respond to requests for remark connected Monday, but they told The Argus Leader that they planned to usage the wealth for flexible seating, papers scanners, e-sports instrumentality and different items.

On Monday, the Sioux Falls Education Association criticized the lawsuit connected Facebook.

“Events similar this amusement that our acquisition strategy is breached — not lone successful the Sioux Falls portion but crossed the state,” the relation said. “It’s clip for america to realign our priorities by focusing connected putting the wealth backmost into our students’ education. No pedagogue should person to crawl connected their hands and knees to proviso due acquisition tools for our students.”

The lawsuit drew the attraction of Representative Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, who said it explained wherefore helium had voted against the National Defense Authorization Act.

“We walk billions connected weapons systems our subject doesn’t want, but teachers are forced to combat implicit $1 bills connected the crushed due to the fact that our schools are truthful underfunded,” helium wrote connected Twitter. “As a congressman & the member of 2 nationalist schoolhouse teachers, this is shameful.”

Bernice King, a girl of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the main enforcement of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, wrote connected Twitter that she disapproved of the giveaway.

“This conscionable should not be,” Ms. King said connected Sunday, adding a punctuation from her father: “A federation that continues twelvemonth aft twelvemonth to walk much wealth connected subject defence than connected programs of societal uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”

Writing connected Monday for The South Dakota Standard, a commentary website, the columnist Tom Lawrence panned the mode that the giveaway was handled.

“Yes, supporting teachers is simply a bully thing,” Mr. Lawrence said. “Donating $5,000 to the origin is simply a generous gesture. And teachers definite request the money. But this was a atrocious look, a humiliating workout for educators.”

Michael Levenson contributed reporting.