Story highlights "Do we really have to educate non-citizens?" one lawmaker asks

Superintendent: "We shouldn't try to fix the budget hole by threatening children"

(CNN) Fellow Republicans are distancing themselves from an Oklahoma lawmaker's proposed solution to state budget problems: turning kids who are learning English over to immigration authorities.

An idea that state Rep. Mike Ritze floated this week in an interview with a local news station drew swift rebukes from members of his own party. It spurred sharp criticism from immigrant rights advocates. And it inspired a flurry of negative comments on his Facebook page.

The state's top school official, who's also a Republican, quickly decried the idea.

"We shouldn't try to fix the budget hole by threatening children," Oklahoma state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said on Twitter. "We are better than that."

We shouldn't try to fix the budget hole by threatening children. We are better than that. #oklaed https://t.co/oLep4tAXt8 — Joy Hofmeister (@joy4ok) May 11, 2017

Rep. Jon Echols, the state House majority leader, told CNN on Friday that targeting students taking English as a Second Language (ESL) classes isn't the right approach.