To the Editor:

I am writing to ask Hollis and Brookline voters to please attend the Co-op District Meeting on March 23 at the HBHS gym, 7 p.m. (child care available), and to support the teacher contract (Article 1) on the warrant to be addressed that evening.

Our middle school and high school teachers currently lag behind both Hollis and Brookline elementary teachers in total compensation when matched for education and years of employment, in some cases by as much as $5,000 per year. While primary educators have their own unique challenges based on the age ranges and needs of the kids they teach, in the co-op, the class sizes are larger, the school day longer and the school year longer. The teachers union and the board worked together to propose a two-year plan meant to bring the co-op teachers to parity with their elementary co-workers, spreading the increase over 24 months to lessen the tax impact of any one year.

We look with pride at the rankings, college acceptance rates, and test scores HBMS and HBHS produce, rightly so, and it is past time we compensate the faculty at a level that shows them we value their efforts, at the very least within our own SAU. Please vote "Yes" on Article 1.

Maryanne Sango Shanley
Hollis