House Republicans look at K-12 schools in latest antisemitism probe

WASHINGTON — The leaders of three large public school systems will appear before Congress on Wednesday to answer questions about how they have handled incidents of antisemitism on their school 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.

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

Those earlier 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.

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

Speaking to reporters last week, David Banks, the chancellor of New York City Public Schools, acknowledged that the school system had not been perfect in handling issues in schools that have emerged since the start of the Israel-Hamas war but that he was proud of how leadership had responded.

Banks said he would not be defensive in his appearance before the panel but seemed critical of how previous hearings had quickly been reduced to viral moments and video clips.

“I fundamentally believe that if we truly care about solving for antisemitism, you don’t do it through cheap political theater and cheap soundbites,” he said. “Putting a spotlight on any particular individual and sometimes trying to create gotcha moments and viral moments is not