TROY, Mich. – A Republican state senator representing Michigan's 13th District is apologizing for his comments made during Thursday’s committee hearing after backlash from teacher unions.

Sen. Marty Knollenberg (R-Troy) said that no one blinked an eye when he made the comments in the meeting because they heard it in context.

In the committee hearing, Knollenberg said:

"You know, we can't fix that. We can't make an African-American white. It is what it is. So we can't fix that."

The focus was supposed to be on struggling students while the state Senate Education Committee was hearing testimony Thursday on low-performing school districts, specifically non-white students who are economically disadvantaged.

"It was a little awkward," Knollenberg said. "Essentially I was paraphrasing the testimony of the state school reform design office. But I paraphrased it and essentially I added a couple words that were a little clunky."

Those clunky words struck a nerve with a few people, especially the American Federation of Teachers. Its president, David Hecker, said "What Sen. Knollenberg said about kids in struggling schools is racist and is a major step backwards in improving education for our children. If a child is struggling academically, it is not because of a problem inherent to their race or ethnicity."

The controversy didn't emerge until more than a day later, leading the senator to believe certain groups are simply playing politics.

Knollenberg said he agrees academic struggles aren't related to race and he's disappointed that the entire discussion on how to help kids in our struggling districts has been overshadowed by one comment.

"Try to put it all into context and I said a few clunky words -- and for that I apologize."