Bianca Seward/Houston Public Media
Michelle Williams immediately following the Board of Managers vote to terminate her.
Houston ISD’s state-appointed board of managers voted again Thursday to terminate the contract of Benbrook Elementary teacher Michelle Williams, despite an independent examiner’s recommendation to reinstate her.
It was the second time the board moved to terminate Williams, a 26-year teaching veteran who also serves as president of the Houston Education Association teachers union and is a Democratic candidate for the Texas House of Representatives.
“I knew that this was coming and I have no ill will, but I just want to live my life. I just want to move on,” Williams said after the vote. “This day couldn’t have come fast enough.”
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Williams was removed from her classroom in August and assigned home duty with pay for “not following protocols,” accusations of insubordination and claims she has repeatedly refused to implement Houston ISD (HISD) curriculum. In August she acknowledged to Houston Public Media she did not follow directives from the school to follow certain instructional models. She asserts those models are “unethical” and “illegal” and that they don’t serve her students.
RELATED: HISD board votes unanimously to remove teacher, union leader from classroom
The board previously voted to terminate her in October, prompting Williams to appeal.
At the heart of Thursday night’s hearing was whether a teacher can modify the curriculum to meet a student’s needs. HISD has made widespread curriculum changes since it was taken over by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in 2023, because one high school received a string of failing academic ratings from the state agency.
Williams maintains she sought to modify the curriculum so it complied with Texas law.
Ellen Spalding, an attorney representing HISD at the hearing, said Benbrook Elementary’s rating from the TEA dropped from a B to a C and the district appointed a new principal and made necessary changes to the curriculum. Spalding argues Williams immediately dissented.
Spalding says Williams refused to implement the changes, focusing on an email Williams sent to the principal within the first week of school declaring she would not follow the new curriculum.
“The bottom line is, Ms. Williams told her principal she would not use the HISD curriculum,” Spalding said. “That is not her choice and if she’s not going to use the curriculum with fidelity, then she is not someone who can teach here.”
Williams’ attorney, Giana Ortiz, urged the board to fully consider the independent examiner’s findings.
“Your lawyers want to convince you that based on one email, Michelle Williams refused to implement HISD curriculum, but that is not the case.” Ortiz argued to the board. “The evidence showed that Michelle Williams agreed to and did implement HISD curriculum in a way that complied with the law. She raised concerns about the curriculum pacing and sequence, the fact that it does not permit her to accommodate special populations, emergent, bilingual special education, gifted and talented students. She raised these concerns verbally and in writing, and she said she would implement the curriculum in a manner to comply with state and federal law. That’s what the recommendation found.”
“I’m not surprised”
Williams was previously dismissed from her duties in 2024, when she was put on administrative leave for social media posts criticizing the district. She was later reinstated after an independent examiner recommended she get her job back after a two-day hearing.
Williams has been a longtime vocal critic of state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles and his administration.
“I expected them to terminate the contract. I’m not surprised,” Williams said. “I knew that we would win the hearing, and we would come here and they would change it and do what they always have done because they’ve been trying to get rid of me for a long time.”
RELATED: Houston ISD teacher, union leader, reassigned again amid ongoing criticism of district leadership
Williams chose to have her hearing open to the public, and several people spoke in support of Williams at the public comment portion of Thursday’s hearing.
Lisa Robinson supported Williams’ decision to deviate from curriculum and urged the board to agree with the independent examiner that Williams was being wrongly terminated.
“Now is your chance to do the right thing,” Robinson said “Vote as if your own child was sitting in Ms. Williams’ classroom, knowing that Ms. Williams would always put your child’s needs first, because if it’s not OK for your child, then is it OK for any time?”
Williams launched a campaign last May to run for state representative for House District 127, which is up for election this fall. She won an uncontested Democratic primary in March. The seat covers Humble, Kingwood and Atascocita.
She says now she plans to focus all her energy on winning in November.
“What they don’t understand, by setting me free, they have allowed me to campaign so that I can move to the Texas House,” Williams said.