In a statement released by his campaign, DeMint said, "sometimes my heart disengages from my head, and I say something I shouldn't."

The carefully worded apology came three days after DeMint, in a televised debate against Democratic rival Inez Tenenbaum, also said openly "practicing homosexuals" shouldn't be hired to teach in South Carolina public schools.

DeMint campaign spokesman Terry Sullivan said the apology covers DeMint's "remorse for the entire line of questions" that began during Sunday's debate. He declined to say whether DeMint was retracting his views or apologizing for what transpired.

Critics said DeMint's comments present a narrow view of what constitutes a modern working family in South Carolina, and show that the three-term congressman from Greenville favors putting his morality above whatever might be best for the classroom.

"He has offered no data to suggest that in South Carolina, children are unable to learn because of a teacher's private life," said Cecil Cahoon, spokesman for the S.C. Education Association. "If no such data exists, we wonder, what is his goal here?"

During an editorial board meeting Tuesday with The Aiken Standard newspaper, DeMint used the example of an unmarried pregnant woman as a figure of someone who also is not an appropriate role model for students.

It followed a question from Sunday night's debate in which DeMint was asked if he supports the state Republican Party's platform that opposes hiring openly gay teachers.

"I would have given the same answer when asked if a single woman, who was pregnant and living with her boyfriend, should be hired to teach my third-grade children," DeMint said. "I just think the moral decisions are different with a teacher."

On Wednesday, after the story drew national attention, DeMint released his apology. "As my wife often reminds me, sometimes my heart disengages from my head, and I say something I shouldn't," it said, adding later in the paragraph, "I clearly said something as a dad that I just shouldn't have said."

The apology also said "Those of us who are parents know that feeling in your gut -- every time you drop your child off at school, it's an act of faith. You trust a group of people -- the principal, the teachers, even the janitors -- with the most precious thing in your life, your children. And you just want what's best for them."

Statistics were not available on how many public teachers in the state might be covered by DeMint's comments, but locally it drew a wide degree of both criticism and support from the education community.

"If a teacher can support herself and her baby, why deny her the right to a child?" said Charleston County School Board member Sandi Engelman. "If it becomes a tax dollar liability, that's an entirely different opinion."

Said Charleston County School Board Chairwoman Nancy Cook, "Who is he to judge other people's life decisions?"

State Rep. Shirley Hinson, R-Berkeley County, a former school board member, said DeMint is correct in his views because he is trying to protect students from two forms of what she said are unacceptable lifestyles: homosexuality and out-of-wedlock childbirths.

Teachers are role models and students learn from their actions, she said. "There's no way you can separate morality. It is learned behavior and that's what I think you're getting into here."

The S.C. Republican Party platform makes no mention of hiring unwed mothers as teachers. The wording that discourages the state from hiring homosexuals has been on record for at least six years, said state party Executive Director Luke Byars.

The plank reads, "Although we support tolerance, we do not agree that unnatural or unhealthy sexual practices ought to be legitimized or promoted in the classroom, nor do we believe that known practicing homosexuals should serve as teachers in public schools."

DeMint's comments also proved troublesome for some ranking Republicans who Wednesday retreated from questions about whether they support the party's U.S. Senate nominee in all of his views.

"I support the candidacy of Jim DeMint for U.S. Senate," said House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville. "But I'm not going to answer that question, period. After the election, if you want to ask me that question, fine."

Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson also declined to comment. Gov. Mark Sanford was out of the office Wednesday and wasn't reached, his office said.

But U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he disagreed with DeMint and that hiring should be determined based on conduct, not social status.

"My basic belief is that people ought to be able to earn a living and contribute to society," Graham said from Washington.

The Tenenbaum campaign Wednesday tried to move the debate back toward the fight over taxes but repeated its contention that DeMint's stance was out of the mainstream.

"If teachers are well-qualified and do their jobs well and obey the rules, they shouldn't be discriminated against in hiring and firing," said spokeswoman Kay Packett.

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