"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) Race to the Top: Obama, Duncan Outline Requirements of $4.35 Billion Program; (2) "Preparing the Workers of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow": President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers Finds Occupations Requiring Higher Education Will Grow Faster Than Occupations That Do Not; (3) "Whole-School Reform": New Alliance Brief Calls for Comprehensive Approach to Transform the Nation's Low-Performing High Schools; and (4) Examining the "Plateau Effect": New Report Finds Phenomenon is Less Prevalent Than Previously Believed. (Contains 1 footnote.)