The crystal ball

If this community accepts a substandard academic environment for our own children, then we have not learned the lessons from our forefathers, and we should all be ashamed. Our forefathers had the ability to look into and decipher the crystal ball. Without their forward visionary thinking and planning, we would not be here, enjoying the fruits of their wisdom and decision-making.

This windswept dust-bowl, insect-infested and God-forsaken desert would still be what it once was. They got rid of the rattlesnakes, coyotes and scorpions and turned Moses Hole into this beautiful landscape — “Moses Heaven, the Promised Land.”

They built dams, reservoirs and canals. We now have some of the cheapest electricity in the world. We are in the center of the agricultural “Bread Basket” and all types of industry have put us in the bull’s-eye for manufacturing. We have one of the top-rated community colleges in the nation and a voc-tech center that was almost completely funded by the State of Washington.

Within the past 12 to 15 years, Moses Lake has been selected and identified by state and national publications as one of the fastest-growing, top recreation centers in the Pacific Northwest and an excellent place to raise a family.

In a recent letter to the editor, the contributor compared our nation’s educational achievement standards with those around the world. This was a fear tactic thrown in to disrupt all of the wonderful achievements that our community has strived for and worked toward over all of these years.

Moses Lake and the state of Washington are both superior to those quoted standards. It is a disgrace to have those alternative facts even printed on the same piece of paper. They are a smokescreen designed to muddy the waters and cause confusion. Education is the one factor that will follow you from cradle to grave.

Pay it forward for our schools and our community. Vote yes on Feb. 14.

Dick Deane

Moses Lake