“I think I left the world a little better than when I found it,” Allen, 86, said on the House floor, surrounded by nearly every member in the chamber. “My legacy to you is love. Love one another. There’s some brains in this room — lots of good brains, lots of good ideas. And when we all put them together, what a wonderful world this will be.”
Before her 11-term tenure in the Texas House, Allen served on the State Board of Education for over 10 years. She began her career in education as a teacher and later school principal in the Houston Independent School District. She retired from Houston ISD after 39 years, then became an adjunct professor at Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University.
After her decades-long career as an educator, Allen devoted much of her time in the Legislature to public education issues, spending each of her last nine terms on the House Public Education Committee and thrice serving as the panel’s vice chair…