Schock to the system just what GOP needs
BY THOMAS ROESER, Chicago Sun-Times, September 18, 2004

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About the future of the Illinois Republican Party: With George W. Bush closing the gap with John Kerry, it's much brighter than you thought. And to those who think the GOP has no bench, listen to this story about a young man who at age 23 has crossed many hurdles and is knocking on the door of future statewide leadership.

His name is Aaron Schock of Peoria. Cruising through high school with sky-high grades while running his own small business dealing in rental property, Schock toted up his credits and determined he could graduate in three years. But the Peoria school board had a rule banning early graduation. So Schock went to the school board to plead his case. There he ran headlong into the educational bureaucracy. You can't do it, he was told. You're supposed to spend four years in high school, and that's that. Schock put in the required four years, but that wasn't that. He hadn't thought much about politics in school, but after earning a degree in finance from Bradley University in two years, he decided to run for the school board at age 19 to replace the board president. He wanted kids with incentive not to be held back.

The bureaucracy took him as a threat and enlisted a local lawyer to remove Schock's name from the ballot. Whereupon he mobilized a write-in campaign. His opponent had received 3,000 votes in the last election, so Schock figured he would need at least 1,000 lawn signs. Raising money on his own for his campaign, he went door-to-door mobilizing a grass-roots effort that contacted 13,000 homes. He left door-hangers at all the homes in Peoria, instructing residents how to spell his name correctly. On Election Day a squadron of Schock volunteers gathered at respectful distances from all the polling places, telling voters how to write in his name. Schock won easily, receiving 6,406 votes -- and 99 percent had his name spelled correctly.

Elected in April 2001, Schock figured he would learn from the expert board members -- but his energy was such that his colleagues eventually elected him president of the school board. There he was: a CEO of the third-largest employer -- the public schools -- in Peoria. He found the budget in disarray. ''The board was in debt; they only talked about how to raise the levy and get more grants,'' he says. Schock cut $3.5 million out of the $130 million budget -- the first cuts the board had made in 10 years. There was controversy regarding the superintendent whom Schock fired. She protested the firing; he made it stick. Local TV covered this brilliant young school board president in a face-down with the bureaucracy. Running Peoria's schools, he learned how to deal fairly with the teachers, how to reach out to the students and their families. He learned how to handle labor negotiations, how to bargain.

Reaching out for help for Peoria's schools, he invited state lawmakers to come to his meetings. One, state Rep. Ricca Slone (D-Peoria Heights), who represents 90 percent of the school district, never showed up. Nor was he alone: Of Peoria's 50 social service agencies, 90 percent had never had a visit from Slone. Schock went to Springfield to see Slone, but was turned away, her secretary saying, ''Ms. Slone is too busy to see you."

You can guess the rest of the story. Slone, a four-term incumbent with no opponent two years ago, now has one: Aaron Schock. Tom Cross, the House Republican leader, signed him up. Cross, who was only 32 when he was elected to the House, is recruiting a farm team and is giving younger members a more active role in the caucus. If Schock wins this fall, he will be the youngest state representative, but will join other Cross recruits, including Frank Aguilar, 42, of Cicero, the first elected Hispanic Republican in the legislature; Jim Watson, 39, of Jacksonville; Ed Sullivan, 35, of Mundelein, and Chapin Rose, 28, of Mahomet.

However, it is the genial Schock -- bright but humble in the sense that he does not pretend to know all the answers -- who could be the crown jewel in a Republican House renaissance. Schock is telling the 92nd District politely but firmly that he has four years more experience than Ricca Slone had when she was elected. But the issue is vision: Schock is urging the governor to call lawmakers back into special session to enact malpractice reform. The contrast involves more than issues. Schock, a fiscal conservative, lives in an area once high in crime but undergoing revitalization; Slone, who voted for every fee and tax increase the governor wanted, lives on the wealthier side of town, as befits her liberal station. The district leans Democrat, but new-breed Republican Aaron Schock is playing exceedingly well in Peoria -- and may one day be a key player in Tom Cross' future majority.


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