Lawrence Allen Jr. (born 1959) is an American politician and educator who has served on the

Texas State Board of Education The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

from 2005 to 2023. The board consists of fifteen members elected to represent single-member districts. Allen represented District 4 in the

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

area. He is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

and is the son of Texas state legislator Alma Allen, who preceded him as the Board representative for District 4.

Life and career

Born in

in 1959, Allen received his bachelor's degree and two master's degrees from

Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas, United States. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two lan ...

. His mother is Alma Allen, a Texas state legislator who served on the

Texas State Board of Education The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

for ten years until 2004. He has taught at Lanier Middle School and Dowling Middle School and worked as assistant principal of Dowling Middle School, Jesse H. Jones High School, and

Jack Yates High School Jack Yates Senior High School is a public high school located at 3650 Alabama Street, very near Texas Southern University, in the historic Third Ward in Houston, Texas. Yates High School handles grades nine through twelve and is part of the Hous ...

. In addition, he has worked as principal of Jesse H. Jones High School. As of 2017, he was employed as director of special projects with the

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest Public school (government funded), public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the ci ...

. Allen was first elected to the Texas State Board of Education in November 2004 and seated in January 2005, succeeding his mother as the member for District 4 in the Houston area ( Fort Bend and

Harris Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle ...

counties). He served as vice chair of the board for two years, vice chair of the Committee on School Finance for eight years, and member of the Planning and Instruction committees. In 2010, Allen voted against a Board resolution vowing to reject school textbooks that depicted Islam overly favorably. In 2022, Allen opted out of seeking reelection to the State Board of Education in order to run for a Houston-area seat in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

. He lost the Democratic primary by a wide margin of 63%-37% to Asian-American lawyer Daniel Lee, who went on to lose the general election to Republican nominee Jacey Jetton. Staci Childs, a Democrat, succeeded Allen on the State Board of Education. Allen is a member of the Houston Association of School Administrators, the

National Association of Secondary School Principals The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is a national organization of and voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and aspiring school leaders from across the United States and more than 4 ...

, and the

. He is married with four children. He is a practicing

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Lawrence Living people 21st-century American educators 21st-century Texas politicians 21st-century African-American politicians American school principals Educators from Houston Politicians from Houston Prairie View A&M University alumni Schoolteachers from Texas Texas Democrats 21st-century African-American educators Muslims from Texas 1959 births