A Kentucky lawmaker has deleted his Twitter account after receiving backlash from a tweet criticizing teachers.

Sen. Stephen Meredith, R - Leitchfield, responded to a

The tweet, which has since been deleted along with his account, said "40% of high school grads can't read or do math. Yes, let's see what they can do with state government."

The same report did not list any statistics regarding math proficiency.

WKYT Political Editor Bill Bryant, who tweeted the story Meredith replied to, says this is an example of the challenge politicians face when trying to engage on social media.

"Tweets can have consequences in this situation," Bryant said, "These days politicians are under increasing pressure to have a social media presence and to communicate with voters in that way, but when a mistake is made it is very public."

Meredith spoke with WKYT the day after sending the tweet, saying he is frustrated with Kentucky's public education system.

"Kentucky hasn't advanced in public education over the last decade, and people who point a lot of different fingers as to why that has occurred, is it because of funding? Is it a lot of different things? To me it's basically the education system itself," Meredith said, "Too much bureaucracy, too little parental involvement, no discipline in school. There are multiple things we're not addressing, and our students aren't being educated to the degree that you see in other states."

Meredith's tweet led to a backlash from many, including Democratic Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes.

Meredith said Grimes' comment has taken his deleted tweet out of context.

"Educators can bring a lot to the table. When you look at 40 candidates this time, it looks like the agenda is to push a different agenda than what we're trying to follow now, and you can't make any decision in a vacuum," Meredith said, "Everything we do affects every other thing we do in the state, so no, that's totally wrong that I think teachers can't bring anything to the table."

The Kentucky Education Association declined to comment on the tweet, but Meredith shared some frustration with the union over its positions on the subjects of the budget and pension reform. He also praised some educators serving in the legislature.

"I think the teachers we have now are doing an excellent job. A couple of people I have the most respect for in the House is Rep. Bam Carney and Rep. Steve Riley; They are great educators and I've watched them the last two years in the Senate fight for public education everyday, but unfortunately it may not be in the direction that folks like KEA want us to fight," Meredith said.

The Republican also said he has some insight on public education, as his wife has been a teacher for 31 years.

"I've looked at it from the outside and observed her career," Meredith said, "I know how difficult it is to be a teacher and, quite frankly, I would not be a teacher under the circumstances they have to operate in today, so again, that tweet was not against teachers, it was the system itself."

Democratic Kentucky Senate District 22 candidate Carolyn Dupont is an associate professor of American history at Eastern Kentucky University. She says Meredith's claim is 'disturbing' and mostly unfounded.

"I'm sure that the truth is not that 40 percent of high school graduates can't read," Dupont said, "It may be that a significant number of high school graduates are not reading at the level we'd expect, but I think a public figure needs to exercise that kind of precision. Or do math, what does that mean? They can't add two plus two?"

He told them he wanted teachers to know running for office is difficult and he regrets the impression he's left.

Meredith told WDRB he has no plans to reactivate his Twitter account.

Meredith began serving in the Kentucky Senate in 2017. He represents portions of Breckinridge, Edmonson, Grayson, Hart, Larue and Meade Counties.