Four seats are up for grabs on the Whitehall-Coplay School Board.

Five candidates are running, including Ronald Helman, Josef Fragnito, Wayne Grim, Robert Kolb and Eileen Abruzzi. All have cross filed.

Kolb said he believes public education in Pennsylvania's school districts is at a crucial crossroads due to increasing state mandates.

School districts also are relying too heavily on property taxes and this needs to be changed, he said.

"The ability of the homeowner to continually endure tax increases is not a sustainable or fair method of funding public education," said Kolb. "State legislators continue to avoid this issue, but it must be explored, as it has been in other states, to maintain a quality education while not requiring homeowners to pay more than their share."

Another area that concerns Kolb, who spent more than 37 years teaching in the district, is the reliance on high stakes testing, such as the PSSA and Keystone tests.

"I can tell you as a former teacher that not everyone can demonstrate their knowledge and thinking ability on such tests. Testing students as young as 7 or 8 with these high-pressure tests is just not what I believe education should be about," Kolb said.

"I truly care about their [children's] education a great deal, but I realize I must also be aware of the taxpayer concerns. It is a very delicate balance and I will do my best to maintain it if re-elected," he said.

Abruzzi said she believes the district can meet the many challenges facing public education in Pennsylvania.

"If elected I can help to make a positive difference in the lives of not only the students, but also in the lives of their families and friends living here," Abruzzi said.

Abruzzi grew up in Coplay and lived in Whitehall for 27 years.

All five of her daughters and nine out of 12 grandchildren attend classes in the Whitehall-Coplay School District.

Her goal is "to offer the best possible education to our children in our communities of Whitehall and Coplay in a fiscally responsible way," she said.

The other three school board candidates did not respond to requests for information.