PERMANENT PORTABLES? The Pasco County attorney's office says portable classrooms should be counted as school capacity, as the county government and school district negotiate concurrency standards. School officials call the idea misguided.

JUSTIFIED? Questions emerge about whether deputies' use of pepper spray foam was appropriate to end a fight at Dunedin High. Says Pinellas board member Janet Clark: "I don't have a lot of sympathy for the crowd of kids who crowd around
a fight. The collateral damage, I think, is sometimes
earned."

SEX SCANDAL SUIT: A Middleton High teacher has been arrested for having sex with a mentally disabled student. Now the boy and his friend, a girl who got suspended after reporting the teacher, have hired a lawyer and announced they will sue the Hillsborough school district.  "The school bears absolute responsibility," said attorney Darryl E. Rouson.

RENT-A-COPS ON PATROL: The University of South Florida hires unarmed security guards to help the campus police.

IMPACT ON EDUCATION: Florida senators return to the Capitol on Monday to see if they can salvage a property tax relief plan. But leaders worry that the House version will hurt education too much.

CRIST ENDORSES TUITION HIKE: Reversing an earlier stance, the governor signs a bill allowing universities and community colleges to raise tuition and fees, the Lakeland Ledger reports.

PICKING A COLLEGE? The Florida Times-Union offers helpful hints on applying, plus some facts and figures on Florida's major public universities.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST? The Miami-Dade School Board calls for an investigation of a software contract with a vendor that employs the superintendent's son, the Miami Herald reports.

COSTLY SPECIAL EDUCATION: Parents and school districts frequently fight over whether families must put their learning-disabled children in a public school program before sending the youngsters to a private school and charging the district for tuition, the NY Times reports.

Visit the Gradebook at noon for an interview about the state's proposed science education standards with Joe Wolf, president of Florida Citizens for Science.