Kevin Guico

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Kevin Guico

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

March 1, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

University of the Pacific, 2014

Personal

Profession

Teacher

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Kevin Guico (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Texas State Board of Education to represent District 5. Guico lost in the Democratic primary on March 1, 2022.

Guico completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Kevin Guico earned a bachelor's degree from the University of the Pacific in 2014. Guico's career experience includes working as a teacher.

Elections

2022

See also: Texas State Board of Education election, 2022

General election

General election for Texas State Board of Education District 5

Incumbent Rebecca Bell-Metereau defeated Perla Hopkins in the general election for Texas State Board of Education District 5 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rebecca Bell-Metereau (D)	63.8	419,391
		Perla Hopkins (R)	36.2	237,773

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 657,164
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Mark Loewe (R)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 5

Incumbent Rebecca Bell-Metereau defeated Juan Juárez and Kevin Guico in the Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 5 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rebecca Bell-Metereau	73.7	91,899
		Juan Juárez	19.8	24,667
		Kevin Guico	6.5	8,077

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 124,643
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 5

Mark Loewe defeated Robert Morrow in the Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 5 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mark Loewe	53.5	39,106
	Submit photo	Robert Morrow	46.5	33,975

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 73,081
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Kevin Guico completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Guico's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Kevin Guico is an educator, community organizer, and educational advisor running to be the first Asian American on our Texas State Board of Education. Throughout his career in Texas public education, he progressively increased the scope of his impact - all while focusing on what is best for students. From his start with a caseload of 12 students, to being a teacher to over 200 students, to training educators impacting over 80 classrooms, to now supporting public school leaders at multiple districts across Texas - he is called to serve at the next statewide level and ensure all conversations are truly centering our students. He is also currently on the board of a progressive leadership development nonprofit and serves as the Curriculum Chair that plans the scope and sequence for local leaders to step into their power. A lifelong musician and arts education advocate, he also serves as the Board Chair for an arts education-based nonprofit that seeks to instill creative thinking in students through the arts at no cost for public schools in Central Texas, and volunteers as a music mentor to students in the foster system to provide free music lessons and trauma informed mentorship. Previously, he was an AmeriCorps Member, a 7th grade English teacher, a PD coach, AAPI organizer and identity development facilitator, a co-founder of a regional education community organizing group, and a local school board campaign staffer.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Bridge the gap - interrogate the racial and socio-economic disparities for Texas students in graduation rates, enrollment in Gifted & Talented programming, and access to technology; and drive towards action to close the gaps
• Drive responsive and reflective curriculum - advocate and co-create responsive curriculum developed to promote growth through the pandemic, community resilience and social-emotional well being, and arts education; as well as advocating for reflective and inclusive Asian American Studies and Indiginous Studies courses
• Empower local leaders - provide responsive, equitable, and results-driven support to our school system and district leaders aligned to centering our students, driving for equity, and enduring political windshifts and adult interests

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about education policy and all things that intersect with our education system, including: environmental policy, sustainable transportation and infrastructure, alternative energy sources and working energy grids, and climate justice; community development, housing policy, and gentrification; food security, access, and sustainability; tax reform and equitable state budgets; public health policy, Medicare and Medicaid, and comprehensive mental health accessibility and services; criminal justice reform, school-to-prison-pipeline, and the prison industrial complex; and immigration reform and pathways to citizenship.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign website

Guico's campaign website stated the following:

“	DIVERSITY ON THE BOARD, LOCAL REPRESENTATION IN COMMITTEES, AND STUDENT-REFLECTIVE ​​​​​​​CURRICULUM I believe that despite the best efforts of students and teachers, our education system needs to be reflective of the growing student demographics of our state. This includes more people of color to serve on our SBOE, including electing the first Asian American to serve on the board. The SBOE committees and working groups should also be diverse and represent the people who are working the closest with our students: our local leaders, educators, and community members. Through my grassroots organizing experience, allyship with local leaders, and coalition building with organizations and groups, I would ensure that more educators and community members are lifted up into places of power to represent the best interests of the people, and not the political interests of a loud minority. As a middle school teacher, I have seen the power that manifests when students and families see themselves reflected in their schools and in their curriculum. I know how important it was for me to build a classroom culture reflective of our school’s community and values. By incorporating my students and their lives into my classrooms, I saw student growth accelerate, their writing deepen, their emotional intelligence and critical thinking skyrocket, and their families show up constantly to engage with me and their greater community. This is why I am passionate about the importance of representation in school curriculum. Our students of color deserve to be seen and all of our students deserve an accurate and holistic education. As your SBOE member, I will serve with a conscious and anti-racist lens as the board conducts the upcoming Social Studies TEKS review, and advocate for the adoption of Asian American Studies and Indigenous Studies, in addition to our currently existing Ethnic Studies curriculum. RESPONSIVENESS AND RESILIENCE IN STUDENT WELLNESS AND ACHIEVEMENT Currently, there are inequitable outcomes in the educational achievement of students across lines of race and socioeconomic status. Inequity is visible as early as 3rd grade reading levels – the vital time when students shift from learning to read to reading to learn. Similarly, graduation rates to and through college and enrollment in gifted & talented programming disproportionately excludes our Black and Latinx students. I will work towards addressing root causes of these inequities, including a movement to audit SBOE guidelines and requirements that are contributing to achievement gaps. As an SBOE member, I would not only advocate to expand social emotional learning and arts education, but I would lift up and highlight innovative partnerships and community school models that promote responsive and resilient practices for our students. I believe that students won’t learn a thing if they don’t feel safe, secure, and self-assured. Evidence shows that social emotional based learning promotes wellness, trust, and resilience in students. Now more than ever there needs to be a holistic approach to student success, not just a hyper focus on academic outcomes. As a teacher who implemented social emotional curriculum for middle schoolers, I have the lens of a practitioner to ensure that students are at the center of curriculum decisions. As a board chair for an arts education nonprofit and a music mentor for students in the foster system, I believe that expanding and deepening our arts education standards, initiatives, and accessibility will foster an education system that is responsive to students and fosters their resilience. STUDENTS AT THE HEART OF TEXAS Far too often, discussions and decisions in Texas education deviate from what is most important: students. I believe that adult politics and special interests are making their way into far too many education spaces, and it is getting in the way of educators, school leaders, and our students from doing what they know best. As an SBOE member, I will develop and advocate for policies to ensure that the majority of our meetings are centered on students and limit any political distractions. For the sake of our students, I will forge positive and productive relationships with the other members, TEA, and other involved stakeholders to collaborate and move forward with policy that benefits our students. I will also build structures to deeply engage local and community leaders to learn from those who are closest to the students, and build pipelines of leaders who are ready to bring students back to the heart of Texas. We need an expansion of school funding across the state, not arguments over the scraps. All schools need to be funded adequately and equitably, and the way to do that is to lift the floor of school finance, not lower the ceiling on our students. HB3 was a historic bipartisan bill that injected one of the largest investments in our education system in a decade. We know that, while it was much needed, it still wasn’t enough. On the SBOE, I will advocate for an expansion of HB3, with a further investment in those components that further equity by student need. I will advocate for leveraging the interest from the Permanent School Fund to replicate and redesign successful best practices and models across the state. I will advocate for districts to implement equitable and sustainable uses of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds to not only include much needed safer and greener school infrastructure, but also to promote equity in school technology - such as increasing equity in broadband connection and devices especially for our low socioeconomic and rural students.	”
—Kevin Guico's campaign website (2022)

See also

2022 Elections

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Candidate

Texas State Board of Education District 5

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