When her first son was in school, Susan Sargeant wasn’t aware that she had educational options. He had a negative experience at the large, district-run high school he attended, but despite the challenges, she kept him at the school.

“Because of my age and lack of knowledge about what was really available, I never felt like I had any options,” Sargeant said.

In the time since, she has earned her teaching degree and obtained first-hand perspective of the K-12 education system as a special education teacher. She’s also had another son, who is now having a radically different high school experience.

She opted to enroll him in a high-quality public charter school, Rooted School Indy. The small class sizes and flexible, individualized approach have helped him excel and reach his potential. Sargeant’s younger son plans to study cybersecurity and pursue a career in that field.

The diversity of the teaching staff has enabled him to see teachers who look like him. As a Black male, Sargeant believes, that is especially important.

“He was very mad when I told him he wasn’t going to (his district high school),” Sargeant said, “But he loves (Rooted) now.”

Seeing the difference between her older son’s high school experience and her younger son’s time at Rooted, where teachers and school leaders wake up every day thinking about his outcomes, has propelled her advocacy through the Better Together movement.

She wants all families to have the same kind of experience that her son has had at Rooted, but she sees obstacles to achieving this. For one, not every family can drive to a school that is a good fit for their child, which is why she would like to see improvements to transportation to ensure better access. As one example, she said, fewer students can access Rooted because they lack the ability to travel.

“Why am I limited to my neighborhood?” Sargeant said. “If there’s a better opportunity out there, as much money as we as taxpayers pay, there shouldn’t be a fight. The kids are not even included in this argument. What about the kids that are missing out while you guys fight over who is going to ride the bus?”

She also believes that information about schools should be easier to navigate so that families know their options and can choose the best fit. Through her advocacy, she hopes to change that.

“I wish that we’d remove the narrative that parents don’t care and adopt the narrative that parents are uninformed,” she said. “We spend a lot of time educating kids, but we have to educate parents – that’s when the change is going to come, when the parents are informed.”