Fay Allen was elected to the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District as the first ever African American woman in 1939. As a former teacher in the District, Allen was devoted to the students she worked with and wanted to make a larger impact. In 1937, Allen first ran for a seat on the board and lost. However her initial failure was not a deterrent, and she ran for the seat again in 1939, advocating for standardized and modernized school curriculum, public education beyond just high school, and school board member elections according to district. In her second campaign, she was endorsed by the Federation for Civic Betterment, an organization that was considered radical at the time. Despite the media’s view on the Federation, however, they helped assure Allen a seat on the board. She was elected on May 2 and began her duties on July 1, following the resignation of former board member, Margarete Clark.
During her time on the board, Allen received a significant amount of scrutiny, despite the fact that she had an overwhelming amount of support from organizations such as the Los Angeles Teachers Federation, the L.A. Industrial Union Council, and the L.A. Democratic Central Committee. The controversy surrounding her tenure on the board continued both during and after her term.