The Politico (7/17, Emma) reports “political pressure to dilute” policies requiring third graders to repeat the year if they flunk a reading test is growing across the country as states prepare to roll out “more-challenging Common Core exams” next spring. States that have already implemented the exams have seen as many as 70 percent of students fail the exams, “raising fear of mass retentions” among stakeholders. Oklahoma has already moved to weaken the laws, saying that students can be promoted despite failing grades if a panel of parents and educators approve. Other states have also made moves to soften the retention laws’ impacts and in Ohio, it has become a campaign issue.