MinnCAN, a new education lobbying group working to end the state’s achievement gap, will kick off its legislative efforts Monday at the Capitol.

The group is headed by Vallay Varro, who resigned from the St. Paul School Board to take this job.

The 10 a.m. launch in the Capitol rotunda will include the release of a study that the group says shows “the troubling statistics around Minnesota’s achievement gap, along with recommendations for improvement which focus on the advancement of three fundamental principles: choice, accountability and flexibility.”

MinnCAN says its goal is to create “the political will to enact smart public policies that ensure every Minnesota child has access to a great public school.”