by Tyler Dahlgren, Communications Manager

Guereca Settles in to Executive Director Role with Stand For Schools

By Tyler Dahlgren, Communications Manager

Dunixi Guereca loves a good scrap, especially when it’s over something he really believes in.

Guereca believes in Nebraska’s public schools. It’s what drew the Californian back to The Heartland to serve as the new Executive Director of Stand For Schools.

“I knew that here in Nebraska, it was one of the last bastions of truly public education, and that was rooted in a statewide love of their schools,” Guereca said. “So when I saw the Stand For Schools opening, I felt like that was something that I could absolutely get behind. It’s a good fight.”

A first-generation Mexican American, Guereca grew up in Southern California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. After a few years of attending the California Maritime Academy, he stumbled into activism and began lobbying for various causes at the California Capitol Building.

As it turns out, he had a knack for it. He was cut out for the Capitol life.

“I realized, ‘Hey, I’m pretty good at this. I’m pretty good at building coalitions and talking with people and lobbying. Maybe I shouldn’t be on a boat for 10 months out of the year,’” Guereca remembers thinking.

One of his buddies was playing football a thousand miles and some change away for the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) Lopers. He successfully talked Guereca into enrolling. He would soon get his first taste of Midwest America.

It wouldn’t be his last.

Guereca attended UNK then UNL, and both experiences pushed him closer to a career in political campaigning and advocacy. Knowing Nebraska so well swayed him to go for the job with Stand For Schools.

“I’ve been all over the state having conversations with folks, and one thing that always stuck out to me was that wherever we’d go, the first place they’d always take you was their schools,” Guereca said. “It was that love of their local schools that transcended political ideology, age, everything. Everyone loved their public schools in Nebraska.”

Growing up in Los Angeles, he saw firsthand the damage that can be caused by charter schools. He saw the devastating effect that privatization can have on communities.

“That, combined with what I saw in Nebraska, made me think ‘You know what? Let’s keep that good thing going,’” he said. “Not only is there a lot of love, but the schools here actually perform well. It’s a high-performing state.”

It comes back to the old “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” adage, he continued. He’s also been impressed with directives pertaining to equity, special education, and mental and behavioral health that have been established in Nebraska. When Nebraskans talk about educating the whole child, they mean it.

“Schools are pillars of the community, and through that, what you see is that there are issues that schools are forced to address, like food insecurity for example,” Guereca said. “We’re the richest country in the world, but almost 20 percent of our kids suffer and don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Especially in communities where resources are scarce, mental health is a huge issue. Those needs are all addressed at our local schools, so really ensuring that they’re getting the resources they need is so important.”

The reality is that schools aren’t, he explained. That’s part of the fight. Part of what brought him back to Nebraska, where charter schools simply don’t fit.

“At the end of the day, it’s about taking resources away from the public system,” Guereca said. “With the geography and

GUERECA

“What’s invigorating for me is hearing the great things that are happening. Stand For Schools wants to make sure that those good things keep happening.”

Dunixi Guereca

“...almost 20 percent of our kids suffer and don’t know where their next meal is coming from.”

Dunixi Guereca

the population distribution of the state, privatization just isn’t going to work out here.”

For charter schools to succeed, he continued, they need to be situated in an area that has an educated, unemployed workforce. That’s not Nebraska. Here, schools are struggling to fill teaching positions. Charter schools would only exacerbate that struggle.

“It would pull teachers out of public schools that are already having trouble filling those positions,” he said. “Not only would you be taking money out of the public school system, you’d also be taking teachers and personnel, too. It doesn’t address anything. It actually worsens the situation by depriving our local schools of both financial resources and personnel.”

Guereca joined the fold at an interesting time. He foresees a very difficult legislative session ahead, and believes proponents of public education need to come together to win the fight.

“Our team, we’re getting ready to create a coalition of folks from all across the state who are going to be ready when the time comes to stand up and say to a legislator ‘We love our public schools and we need more resources, not less,’” Guereca said, noting that school administrators will be a key player in Stand For Schools’ coordinated effort. “School administrators see everything firsthand. They have to deal with these budgetary and personnel constraints. They need to have an active voice and they need to be ready to speak up because they’re the subject matter experts. They’re the ones day in and day out who deal with these problems. Their voice carries weight.”

Nebraskans in the education arena are no strangers to collaboration.

“What I’ve seen is the will to do it,” Guereca said.

Now it’s time to get in lockstep. There’s too much misinformation and false narratives regarding what’s happening in public schools in the media, he said. Disinformation happens when there’s a void of information.

School districts and administrators hold the key to flipping the narrative. “There’s a lot of great things happening in Nebraska’s public schools, and we need to keep talking about them constantly,” Guereca said. “Talking about them to the parents, a built-in, captivated, internal audience. If these parents are hearing about all the awesome and incredible things that are happening in our schools, they’ll be able to rebuke misinformation when they’re out at a barbeque or a church group or wherever they hear it.”

If you can’t tell by now, Dunixi Guereca isn’t one to back away from a challenge. I told you he loves a good scrap. He also views himself as a product of “The American Dream.” Every citizen, he said, should have the opportunity to live out that dream and to have the same opportunities he was afforded.

“I’m a coalition builder and an organizer at heart,” he said. “What’s invigorating for me is hearing the great things that are happening. Stand For Schools wants to make sure that those good things keep happening.” ■

What are you doing in your free time?

I am a sucker for trying new foods. I like to travel and really check out the local cuisines. One of the things on my bucket list is to be able to try street food on every continent. That’s something I’m working towards. I love to travel. I love experiencing new cultures. That’s just who I am and hopefully something I’ll be able to keep doing.

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