Houston ISD teacher and union leader Michelle Williams has once again been removed from her classroom. Credit: Tannistha Sinha/Houston Defender

Houston ISD teacher and union leader Michelle Williams has been reassigned again, escalating an already tense battle between the district’s state-appointed leadership and one of its most vocal critics. 

The move comes just days after Williams filed a formal complaint with the Texas Education Agency (TEA), alleging the district is failing to meet federal special education requirements at Benbrook Elementary.

Williams, a 26-year classroom veteran and president of the Houston Education Association, said she was removed from her third-grade classroom on Aug. 28 and placed on “home duty” with pay. A district memo accused her of repeated insubordination, failure to follow campus protocols and refusal to implement the HISD curriculum.

This is not Williams’s first time being forced out of a classroom. In 2024, she was removed from Shadowbriar Elementary School for what HISD called “inappropriate conduct.” After a hearing, an independent examiner recommended she be reinstated. Williams believes both removals are retaliation for her outspoken opposition to Superintendent Mike Miles’ reform agenda.

What happened?

Williams describes a pattern of conflicts with her new principal, Edward Heard, who instructed her to follow the pacing models of NES-aligned campuses. She refused, arguing that most of her students, many English learners, were reading below grade level. Williams claims they directed teachers to rush instruction, deny students extra reading support and even tell her not to sit during class, which she argued was unethical and illegal.

She says retaliation escalated after she spoke at a board meeting about HISD’s denial of students’ right to read in English. District administrators began visiting her classroom, writing her up and staging intimidating meetings with multiple supervisors.

Williams responded by filing special education and ethics complaints and additional complaints with Disability Rights Texas, the Texas Workforce Commission and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, alleging HISD violated federal law and state rules on English learner instruction.

“The District will not comment on individual personnel matters. It is important to understand that while we respect the right of every employee to express their opinions and viewpoints in the appropriate forum, employees are expected to perform their job duties. Our priority is ensuring an effective teacher in every classroom for every student,” HISD said in a statement.

District officials claim Williams did not return to class after a grievance hearing and failed to log her absence properly. Williams disputes that account.

“I knew something was going on,” she told the Defender. “I ended up calling my coworkers and the secretary to see if they were, in fact, looking for me. And it was a lie.”

The TEA investigation

Just days before her reassignment, Williams filed a complaint with TEA alleging HISD failed to provide mandated supports to students with disabilities at Benbrook. The complaint centers on whether students in the campus’s Structured Learning Center (SLC) had their individualized education programs (IEPs) properly implemented during the 2025-26 school year.

TEA has agreed to investigate the issue, citing federal regulations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Investigators will examine whether HISD complied with student instructional placement and setting requirements. A decision is due by Nov. 7, although the timeline could extend given the systemic nature of the allegations.

The complaint also highlights concerns about placing a student with significant needs in a general education classroom, where she reportedly screamed throughout lessons. Williams contends HISD’s instructional model prioritizes pacing and alignment over legally required individualized instruction.

Clashing over instruction

Williams described mounting tensions with Heard over the district’s pacing guides. She said Heard repeatedly told her to speed up lessons, even when students were struggling to read basic passages. 

“They were significantly below grade level,” Williams said. “We bumped heads on that because I was telling him, from my expertise, the kids needed to learn how to read.”

Williams argues that directives from Miles’ administration, including instructions to “err on the side of too fast and not too slow,” violate both best practices and the law. She insisted on including phonics and phonemic awareness in her lessons, particularly for English learners and students with IEPs.

She claims those decisions fueled retaliation. After criticizing HISD’s leadership during an August school board meeting, Heard issued her a notice of concern. The following day, North Division Chief Daniel Girard visited her classroom. By week’s end, she was removed from campus.

What’s next?

For now, Williams remains on home duty while HISD investigates. She expects to be sidelined for the remainder of the school year. In the meantime, substitute teachers have been brought in to cover classrooms at Benbrook.

Williams insists her fight is not just personal but systemic.

“They are literally trying to create a system of haves and have-nots like in a third-world country,” she said. “It’s the rich versus the poor or the people who don’t have, or the middle class. There is no middle class in a third-world country. Either you’re at the top or you’re at the bottom.”

I cover education, housing, and politics in Houston for the Houston Defender Network as a Report for America corps member. I graduated with a master of science in journalism from the University of Southern...