LANSING, MI (WTVB) - Republican State Representative Ken Kurtz of Coldwater is joining more than 2 dozen other state lawmakers in urging the Michigan Department of Civil Rights to rescind the complaint it filed with the Federal government concerning school districts using Native American mascots or imagery. Kurtz has one school in his district that is affected by the complaint, the Camden Frontier Redskins. 

Kurtz says it's disappointing that a state department would play politics with our students. He charges the complaint does not serve the hard-working taxpayers of Michigan and that our schools and our students shouldn't fear losing their federal funding solely because a state department disagrees with a district's policies. Kurtz believes the schools should have the opportunity to address the matters locally before the federal government is involved. 

The complaint filed by the civil rights department admits that due process was not met, yet indicated that over time it has expressed the need for these schools to change their mascots.