Talk:Midlothian Independent School District

message: The user (Hillyfan), who updated the information on Midlothian ISD's TEA rating, conveniently left out the details of the reasons for that rating, the appeal of the rating, and the fact that Midlothian scored exemplary on 22 out of 25 TEA standards.
Additionally, (Hillyfan's) edit history and use name indicate he is fan, follower, or is partial to the Cedar Hill ISD. The Cedar Hill ISD is a far less desirable school district than the Midlothian ISD is, due to parents citing poor schools among other reasons. Hillyfan's intentions on the Midlothian ISD page are clearly not merely for information, but for the purposes of discrediting their neighbors to the south (Midlothian) whom the Cedar Hill ISD and it's residents are envious of.
The fact of the matter is that long time residents of Cedar Hill have been fleeing the Cedar Hill ISD for the Midlothian ISD for over a decade now.
:First, the fact about Midlothian ISD having "Exemplary" performance in 22 of 25 academic measurements was added by a user on September 10 and is still posted on the page. Second, there are a lot of school districts in the state of Texas that received an Academically Unacceptable for reasons similar to that of Midlothian. Like Midlothian, there are districts that received the lower rating for non-academic reasons such as the completion rate or dropout rate. I know of other districts where it basically came down to one student being the difference between an Academically Acceptable and Academically Unacceptable rating. Midlothian and many other districts are appealing their district ratings to the Texas Education Agency, which will be published at the end of October. As the person who originally created the TEA Accountability Ratings tables that are located at the bottom of each Texas School District's page, I have personally delayed my usual updates of that information until after the finalized ratings are released. There are bound to be many districts, Midlothian included, that will see their district ratings improve. Lastly, it really wasn't necessary to make those disparaging comments about the Cedar Hill Independent School District to prove your points. Wikipedia is not the place for labeling school districts as 'desirable' or 'undesirable,' which is based on personal opinions, not facts. It is a place to present well-referenced information about the individual topics at hand. There is no official report from the TEA or any other agency which shows that Midlothian schools are specifically being flooded specifically with former Cedar Hill ISD students. There may be some, but to use the word "fleeing" is an exaggeration. One fact is that both districts and the cities they serve continue to grow rapidly. Another fact is that both districts had a majority of their schools rated "Recognized" or "Exemplary" as did just about every other school district in the southern suburbs of Dallas, regardless of each district's overall rating. I highly doubt that the person that posted the information about Midlothian ISDs rating was doing so to bash the district or make it look bad. --Acntx (talk) 11:32, 29 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: As a person who specifically left Cedar Hill ISD for the Midlothian ISD, I can go by personal experience, and the experience of many friends, family members, and others I know in the Midlothian ISD --- the fact is MANY of them have fled Cedar Hill, Desoto, and your beloved Lancaster ISD. To actually believe or assert that the Cedar Hill ISD is anywhere close to the quality school district that is Midlothian ISD is to be living in a fantasy world. It would be like me advocating that Midlothian ISD is a better ISD than the Carroll ISD or Highland Park ISD. It wasn't too long ago Wilmer Hutchins ISD claimed an exemplary elementary school and we see what happened there..... According to THIS report from the Lone Star Foundation: A shockingly high percentage of students failed state tests but were given passing grades - up to 30%. Grade inflation - and the practice of assigning passing grades to failing students - was most pronounced for minority students and students in urban schools with a high concentration of minority students. I know and have seen FIRST HAND what challenges the Cedar Hill ISD teachers face in the classrooms having been an active parent until Spring of 2009 at High Pointe Elementary (CHISD). The over focus on the test to save face to achieve TEA ratings is shockingly obvious, and leads to ignorance of the need for a well rounded education that teaches outside of passing the standardized test. Compared to the Dallas ISD, I suppose the Cedar Hill ISD would look attractive. Compared to the Cedar Hill ISD, I am quite certain the Midlothian ISD looks attractive. Still, the criticism directed at HillyFan is not without merit - it is based on the person interestingly making a critical edit on the Midlothian ISD page, while not making edits on the Cedar Hill ISD page that are critical. But, for me the proof is very personal -- my daughter was considered an excellent reader (amongst the best in her class) at High Pointe, but upon arriving at her school in Midlothian, we got notice that she was considerably behind in reading. She quickly has caught up, but for me, this was further validation of the quality difference between urban school districts like Cedar Hill with large 'disadvantaged' populations (it's now an urban extension district) vs suburban ones like Midlothian. Cedar Hill, Desoto, Lancaster, and Arlington were all once considered great school districts..... but over the last 10-15 years, we have seen the effects of the "Community Re-Investment Act" in essentially extending the inner city, with all it's problems, to former suburbs, turning them into 'exurbs' and rapidly increasing minority and disadvantaged student numbers in those areas. While the quality of life for those moving out of the inner city to these areas has improved, the fact of the matter is it has lead to a plethora of problems for schools that did not have those problems before, and has lead to so-called 'White Flight'. Of course, if it was solely whites fleeing, it certainly would not explain hispanic and black families who have moved to my district for the same reasons I have. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.248.59.27 (talk) 04:36, 7 October 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I never thought that I would have to get into one of these discussions on Wikipedia after five years of editing on this site. First, exactly where did I say anything about 'beloved' when it came to Lancaster ISD. Please don't put words in my mouth. I didn't bring it up in my last comment and I tried to be formal in saying that Wikipedia is NOT a place for discussions on desirability of school districts, it is a place for FACTS about school districts. When I have written school district articles on this site, I did it based on FACTS from well-referenced sites - take a look if you wish. If you believe that information posted on the Midlothian ISD page was biased or in bad taste, Wikipedia does have a variety of methods in which to correct the situation. You could have posted a question about the edit on Hillyfan's page, placed a tag on the page requiring that the information be cited by a reference, or asked an administrator for help on resolving whatever issues you may have. Instead of doing that, you chose to stereotype and make blanket generalizations about an entire area (that includes multiple cities/districts). I'm glad you found a school in Midlothian that you and your daughter were pleased with, but that's no excuse for looking down on Cedar Hill or other communities in which you have never lived. Honestly, I would have expected one of these "I'm better than you-type comments" from someone living in Red Oak or another location with a track record of this, but never Midlothian. I visit Midlothian often and do like it. In fact, my mother manages a business in the city. She always talks about how nice the people are. Its sad to see this mentality slowly taking root in such a charming community. The sentence about the "Community Re-Investment Act" and "inner-city problems" is just a tasteless smear and has NOTHING to do with the content of this page. It is nothing but a fear-mongering tactic used to bash cities/school districts and validate the "I'm better than you" mentality you have presented. You live in a suburb, I live in a suburb. My neighborhood is probably no different than yours. Cedar Hill, DeSoto, and Lancaster are all still solidly middle-class communities with rising residential income levels (check the latest Census/American Community Survey data) and desirable, safe neighborhoods to match. Have some disadvantaged people moved to the suburbs? Yes, but not in the numbers that you are making it out to be. There are even some disadvantaged people who choose to live in Midlothian. The school districts may have a higher percentage of economically disadvantaged children, but that has figure risen in just about all districts in the DFW area. The demographics of every school district, including Midlothian, have changed and will continue to change. When the city of Midlothian has a highly diversified population of say 30,000 to 40,000 in 10-15 years and people begin to "flee" for less populated, less-diverse, supposedly-"better" locales such as Venus or Maypearl, then proceed to make insensitive and stereotypical comments about Midlothian, its people, and its schools that you know aren't true, maybe you'll understand why someone would find your remarks highly-offensive. --Acntx (talk) 13:43, 7 October 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Acntx, I live in the area and your comments are spot on! 75.58.156.166 (talk) 12:16, 20 October 2009 (UTC)
replies: text:  Thanks, I just discovered this message today. --Acntx (talk) 12:19, 2 November 2009 (UTC)
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