Fensterwald: State Board enters fray on teacher evaluations [Educated Guess, 11/15/10]:

Against claims that it is exceeding its authority, the State Board of Education boldly waded last week into two controversial policy areas: teacher layoffs and teacher and principal evaluations.

Benicia cell phone crackdown upsets students, parents [San Francisco Chronicle, 11/15/10]: Gary Jensen, principal at Benicia High School, doesn't know what hit him in the face at lunchtime or who among the students huddled at picnic tables in the quad targeted him. But he knows why.

For L.A., possible lessons in D.C.'s controversial teacher evaluation system [Los Angeles Times, 11/14/10]: In school districts including Washington's, New York's and Houston's, officials are using a method called 'value-added' to bring a measure of objectivity to the process. But virtually no one endorses it as the sole gauge of an instructor.

New Hampshire Pledge of Allegiance Law Upheld [Ed Week’s SchoolLaw Blog, 11/14/10]: A federal appeals court has upheld a New Hampshire law that requires schools to set aside time daily for students to voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Read the 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision in Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Hanover School District.