Lily Laux
As Deputy Commissioner of School Programs at the Texas Education Agency (TEA), Lily Laux is responsible for developing resources, services, and program models to effectively improve quality, access, and opportunity for all students in Texas. Joining TEA in 2017, Laux oversees the teams responsible for standards, instructional materials, assessments, and performance reporting, in additional to teams that support the breadth of academic programs from our youngest to our oldest learners. Through their work, these teams support the agency’s strategic priorities, particularly building a foundation of reading and math and connecting high school to college and career.
Laux began her career in education as a middle school Reading and Language Arts teacher in Memphis through Teach For America, where she led 60+ students to achieve over two years of reading growth in a single academic year. She also served as an instructional coach, a school director, and a director of operations for Teach For America’s summer institutes in Atlanta and New York, as well as the Senior Managing Director of Teach For America’s Mississippi Delta Institute. Laux believes deeply in the possibilities and value of public education to serve all children in the state of Texas. Laux holds a PhD in American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, with a focus on education history. Laux earned her Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from Columbia University and her Masters in Curriculum and Instructional Leadership from the University of Memphis.