Overview
- The state-appointed board voted Thursday to terminate Michelle Williams, a 26-year teacher and head of the Houston Education Association, despite a February recommendation to reinstate her.
- District lawyers said Williams refused to use the required HISD curriculum with fidelity and cited an email they say showed she would not follow it.
- Williams and her attorney said she followed the curriculum but adjusted pacing to meet legal needs of special education and emergent bilingual students, and they noted she filed special education complaints with the state.
- A state hearing examiner had urged reinstatement after a two-day hearing that found HISD lacked credible evidence, and Williams’ attorney said the district sent a late brief Wednesday asking the board to flip that finding.
- This is the second firing effort in two years and follows an October board move to back termination, and Williams can appeal to the Texas education commissioner as she shifts attention to her Texas House campaign.