"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Federal Update: U.S. Department of Education Receives Requests for NCLB Waivers from Seven More States; Receives Intent from Nearly 900 Applicants Under Race to the Top-District Competition; (2) "The Urgency of Now": New Schott Foundation Report Calls for "Support-Based Reform Agenda" to Increase High School Graduation Rates Among Black and Latino Males; (3) Ready (Or Not): Only 43 Percent of the Class of 2012 Met College Readiness Benchmark on SAT; (4) "State High School Exit Exams": As State Exit Exams Transition Toward College and Career Readiness, New CEP Report Raises Possibility of More Students Being Left Behind; and (5) Texas Tech Talk: Alliance President Stresses Importance of Digital Learning in Testimony Before Texas Joint Interim Committee. (Contains 2 footnotes.)