WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — Leaders of three public school systems will appear before Congress on Wednesday to respond to questions on how they have handled incidents of antisemitism on their campuses.

The witnesses scheduled to testify before a House Education and Workforce subcommittee represent New York City Public Schools, the Berkeley Unified School District in California and the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland.

All three districts, in predominantly liberal areas, have diverse student populations and a sizeable Jewish American community. Student-led Pro-Palestinian protests also have taken place in those three districts.

Wednesday’s hearing comes amid a series of inquiries by the Republican-led committee into how universities have responded to pro-Palestinian student protests on campuses.

School leaders will likely face questions on issues of free speech and how much oversight is given to teachers’ actions, including on their personal social media presence outside of school.

Wednesday’s hearing will be the first to focus on K-12 schools.

The college-level hearings have been heated — the first in December precipitated the resignations of the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. Most recently, the testimony of Columbia University’s president, Minouche Shafik, escalated into weeks of protests that spread beyond her campus to colleges across the country.

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