We all have a right to a education, but how well are children really being educated? There are many different types of educational options for children: charter school, public school, home school, etc. Every school is not guaranteed to give every student a good education, so this forces the parents to sacrifice part of their lives and go all around the city in order to get their children a better education.

To find out more about these experiences I asked Ms. Rouse about the sacrifices she made for her children. She told me the story about how she knew she wanted her son to come to E&S in 9th grade. One of the requirements for E&S is a proficient or advanced score on a test, and, unfortunately, her son didn’t have that. She refused to give up on her son’s education, so she had him attend a STEM program from October to May, every Saturday. She, her oldest son, and her younger son all had to wake up early to make the 9 o'clock classes. She and her younger son waited for her oldest until 12:30 when the classes were over.

Her son ended up get getting a spot in 8th grade, great news for Ms. Rouse and her son. Her son ended up struggling in math at E&S so she made yet another sacrifice. She would take her son to Temple U, pick up her younger son, go to Temple and wait for son, then go all the way home.

Even through all of this, Ms. Rouse never saw these as “sacrifices;” she saw them more as just simply what a mother has to do. She sees these as things she supposed to do, because after all, every parent wants their child to succeed.

Parents go through situations like this all the time for the sake of their children, but they shouldn’t have to. Education is a human right, not a privilege. What if Ms. Rouse couldn’t fit the tutor or the program into her schedule, does that mean her son is just forced into bad education? This is the reality that many parents and youth face. Every parent cannot afford or make time for their child to get the extra support they are entitled to.