WASHINGTON — Education Secretary and former Michigan school choice advocate Betsy DeVos suggested she won't stand in the way of local school districts spending federal funds to buy guns to protect themselves and their students.

Posting a letter Friday evening on Twitter that she sent to U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., DeVos said federal law provides districts "substantial flexibility" in how they use funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and that Congress gave neither her nor the department the authority to decide otherwise.

"Let me be clear: I have no intention of taking any action concerning the purchase of firearms or firearms training for school staff under the ESEA ... Congress did not authorize me or the Department to make those decisions," she said in both the letter and the posting on the department's press secretary's Twitter feed.

The letter comes amid widespread criticism of DeVos after reports, including one in the New York Times, that the education secretary might allow federal funding to be used for the purchase of firearms for the first time under a Student Support and Academic Enrichment grant program, that makes no specific mention of prohibiting them.

In the wake of a high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., early this year, schools and school officials have been looking for ways to improve security, and DeVos was named by President Donald Trump to lead a commission looking into the issue. Education Department officials have told other media, including the Washington Post, that school officials in Texas and Oklahoma have asked whether they could use funds from that grant program to purchase firearms or provide firearm training.

DeVos may use guns to 'improve school conditions'

But DeVos' reply to Scott, the top-ranking Democrat on the House education committee, appears to make clear that she does not plan to issue any specific policy for or against the use of those funds for the purchase of firearms, while potentially allowing school districts to use the funds since it's not specifically prohibited in the statute.

"As I have stated publicly on numerous occasions ... I will not legislate via fiat from the Department," DeVos wrote in the letter. "Therefore, I will not take any action that will expand or restrict the responsibilities and flexibilities granted to State and local education agencies by Congress."

As such, DeVos seems to be telling Scott and the other members of Congress that if they don't want federal funds to be used for firearm purchases, they have a remedy: to make sure the law says they can't be used for that purpose. But that's a political minefield for Congress – especially one deeply divided headed into a midterm election.

Many teachers and educators across the country responded negatively to the suggesting of using federal funds to buy firearms. After the New York Times reported its initial story, Lily Eskelsen García, head of the National Education Association, in a news release blasted the idea of purchasing weapons for teachers anywhere as "ill-conceived, preposterous, and dangerous. Arming teachers and other school personnel does nothing to prevent gun violence."

Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, wrote in the Hill in recent days, "We’ve known DeVos has wanted to do many things that would hurt students – including cutting federal spending for public schools and undermining the rights of vulnerable students or those who have student loans – but this idea is one of the most reckless and dangerous ideas I’ve heard from her."

Contact Todd Spangler at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @tsspangler.