To the Editor:

Earlier this summer, I attended a meeting of a group that claimed our schools in the East Penn School District are not performing well and that our elementary students are “failing” the Pennsylvania standard math tests [Pennsylvania System of School Assessment].

This is false.

This group compared math test scores from 2012 to scores from 2018. But Pennsylvania made the PSSA math test significantly more challenging in 2013.

Math scores statewide including East Penn’s declined after this change. East Penn maintained its high performance on the PSSA math test compared with all Pennsylvania schools.

In 2021, East Penn PSSA math scores ranked third in Lehigh County out of 17 school districts and ranked in the top 20% in Pennsylvania.

The top ranked schools were affluent suburbs of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg where the taxes per student are high. East Penn’s taxes per student are in the lower 30% in Pennsylvania.

We should applaud the performance of East Penn students and congratulate the teachers, administration and the school board for providing quality education while keeping our taxes among the lowest in the state. This is exactly how we keep our property values up and keep our reputation as a great place to raise a family.

John Boyle

Emmaus