Army Veteran Works to Improve Wisconsin School Board Finances

After returning from serving a tour overseas with the Wisconsin Army National Guard during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Josh Schoemann decided to continue serving the public by running for school board in his local district. He prepped to win by attending American Majority trainings. “I attended two or three trainings through American Majority and kept the handouts that were given to us, which was a huge asset as I was starting up my campaign,” Josh said. “I still use them even after having been elected.” Josh says that he chose that school district because he saw it as the best fit for his family, and ran because he wanted to keep it a great school district. “I have a 6th grader and a 2nd grader and I thought there was no better way to get involved than the local school board and to try to make it a better place for educating the next generation,” Josh said. Part of Josh’s interest in public service came as a result of his service to our country. “Ever since I was a young kid, I grew up with my dad listening to talk radio and it kind of just stuck with me,” Josh said. “Growing up during Reagan and then into Desert Storm and eventually serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom has caused me to value the importance of public service.” For Josh who is a county administrator, the best part of serving the public is the ability to view local government from a different perspective. “I see people every single day and I see the positives and negatives of local government,” Josh said. “That gives me an interesting and unique perspective of being an elected official which means I see both what a bureaucrat and an elected official see.” Having now served on the school board for almost a year, Josh feels that he has already been able to make a difference. “It’s only been a year, but I feel like I have gotten a better handle on our school district’s finances – [it’s] something I’m proud of. We could have easily had a tax hike. However, due to good budgeting, we were able to stay within our means and prevent that.” Josh was able to use his training with American Majority to begin his race. “I announced my race early and spent a lot of time on social media,” Josh said. “Thankfully, I had name recognition due to being county administrator so that also helped me in my race.” Josh was able to heavily promote his race on social media to  connect with voters that might not have had the chance to meet personally. The most rewarding moments of his campaign involved talking to individuals that he already knew on a deeper political level — learning where they stood on significant issues.“I got to know what they wanted to see and what what they thought we should change within our district,” he said. Josh believes that you should never underestimate the power of having personal, face-to-face conversations — on the campaign trail and as an elected official. “While making connections on social media is good, face-to-face communication is something that I would have spent more time on because it is so important,” Josh said.