By Rebecca S. Jones
HOUSTON – Alma Allen began teaching within the Houston Independent School District at the age of 21. Initially, she taught at Parker Elementary School and Grimes Elementary School. Swiftly advancing and soaring through the ranks of education, she later became Assistant Principal at Foster Elementary School and then served as principal at Peck Elementary School, Windsor Village Vanguard Magnet School and G.B.M. Turner Elementary School. She also worked in Human Resources and Central Administration. After offering nearly four decades of impeccable service to HISD, she retired. Thereafter, she continued her career in education as an Adjunct Professor at both Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University; and was also elected to serve on the State Board of Education for over 12 years, where she remains Vice Chair of Public Education for the State of Texas.
Her educational background precedes her insomuch that she holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Education degree from Texas Southern University and a Doctor of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Houston, as well as a certificate in administration and supervision from the University of Houston.
Representative Allen was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives on November 2, 2004 and has served consecutively until this day. During her tenure, she has passed numerous bills.
Over the years, she has received many awards and honors, including Principal of the year, District 5, and Outstanding Alumnus of the University of Houston. She also received the Texas Freedom Network “Walking the Walk Award”, from then-Governor Ann Richards, the Living Legend Award, presented by the Texas Alliance Of Black School Educators and was honored in her hometown of Livingston, with Alma Allen Day.
Rep. Allen is a member of the: Houston Association of Professional Administrators, American Association of Supervision and Curriculum, Texas Association of School Administrators, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Texans Concerned for Superior Schools, the Women’s Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Democratic Women, The American Association of Curriculum and Development and the Council of Negro Women.
Today, she continues to live her life on the basis of her charge, “to make life better for other people.” Rep. Allen and her husband, Lawrence A. Allen, Sr., are the proud parents of two children and the grandparents of five grandchildren.
