Last week, like us, you may have found yourself asking, "Why am I getting a ballot in the mail? It's January, right? Have I entered some strange alternate universe where we vote in the winter and have Christmas in March? Is this somehow related to global warming?"

All good questions. Turns out we're voting on two separate school-bond levies, both of which replace expiring property taxes. (The vote is always in February—who knew?) The first, a six-year, $490 million capital bond, will pay for capital projects including school-building renovations, seismic upgrades, fire alarms, and sprinkler systems. The second, a $397 million operations levy, will help fund school operations. Although we're less than thrilled with being asked to fund basic services through property-tax levies (isn't funding education the state legislature's job?), sending a message to the legislature is less important than providing basic education for Seattle's kids. Vote yes on both levies