Michigan state Senator Marty Knollenberg decided he'd be a wise guy and blame failing school districts on African-American kids during a debate.

Teachers and fellow lawmakers criticized Michigan state Sen. Marty Knollenberg (R) after he awkwardly inserted race into a discussion on troubled school districts within the state, WXYZ-TV reported.

Footage posted by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) shows Knollenberg saying during a state Senate committee meeting on Thursday, “You mentioned these school districts failing, and you mention economically disadvantaged and non-white population are contributors to that. I know we can’t fix that. We can’t make an African-American white. That’s just, it is what it is.”

Knollenberg was speaking to state school reform officer Natasha Baker, who appeared at the hearing alongside Karen McPhee, an education advisor to Gov. Rick Snyder (R). The senator asked Baker what could be done to prevent such schools from “hurting [their] children.”

Yes, you read that right. Poor kids and children who aren't white are the reasons school districts fail. It has absolutely nothing to do with funding or the state's commitment to helping those children succeed.

What a jerk.