HISD fires longtime teacher after dispute over curriculum and hearing ruling

Houston ISD’s board of managers voted unanimously to fire Michelle Williams, a longtime special-education teacher and union leader, even after a state-appointed hearing examiner said the district had not shown enough evidence to terminate her.

Williams said she has taught for 26 years. She had been working at Ben Brook Elementary School when she received a second notice of intent to terminate, turning a staffing dispute into a larger test of how much weight HISD gives to outside review and how much room teachers have to exercise professional judgment in special-needs classrooms.

At the center of the case was Williams’ use of the district’s new curriculum. HISD’s outside attorney argued that she refused to use it with fidelity. Williams and her attorney said she adapted the materials to meet the needs of students and comply with the law, including students with disabilities and emerging bilingual learners. That disagreement went beyond one classroom lesson plan. It raised a broader question for parents and educators in Houston: whether rigid curriculum rollout is being prioritized over the day-to-day needs of children who require more individualized instruction.

The hearing examiner had recommended reinstating Williams, but that recommendation was not binding. Under Texas Education Code Section 21.257, a board may adopt, reject or change a hearing examiner’s conclusion on good cause for termination. If Williams challenges the ruling, Texas law allows her to appeal to the Texas commissioner of education.

The decision came as HISD continued operating under a Texas Education Agency takeover that began in 2023, after Wheatley High School triggered state intervention by failing accountability standards for seven straight years. In February 2026, the TEA commissioner said the district was on track to return to elected control by the end of the next school year, making high-profile personnel decisions like this one even more consequential for the district’s future.

Community members in the room shouted support when the vote came down, a sign of how deeply these fights have affected trust inside the district. For teachers, the message was unmistakable: even a favorable hearing ruling may not be enough to protect a job if HISD leaders decide the district’s curriculum mandate comes first.

Williams had also been at the center of earlier controversy. In March 2024, she said HISD retaliated against her after a classroom livestream dispute. Her firing now adds to a yearslong stretch of conflict that has already fueled teacher turnover, including about 600 departures during the 2023-24 school year, many at NES campuses.