The Power of School Choice: The Lexie Weck Story

Lexie Weck was born with autism, cerebral palsy and mild mental retardation. Doctors told her mother, Andrea, that Lexie would never walk and likely never talk. But “never” is not a word in Andrea’s vocabulary.

Andrea used vouchers to choose the best possible school for Lexie. The results have been remarkable: Lexie recently scaled 30-foot rock walls, danced at Andrea’s wedding and found a love for helping others bake.

For seven years, Andrea and IJ have worked together defending school choice. When Lexie’s program was declared unconstitutional, Andrea and IJ helped create a new program (known as Lexie’s Law). And to benefit even more children, Andrea and IJ helped create a second program, the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA). Today we find ourselves back in court, defending the ESA.

As Lexie takes on her next goal—turning letters into words—IJ has its own goal: prevail in court so children throughout Arizona can benefit from school choice.