The Cassin Educational Initiative Foundation is concerned that many American young people living in under-resourced urban areas are not receiving the education they need and deserve.  This disparity creates enormous problems for our society.  We support efforts to improve public education and recognize that there are many success stories among public schools in our cities.  We believe, however, that private, faith-sponsored education that is accessible to young people of limited means can help break the cycle of poverty that engulfs too many American children.  Private religious schools have had an enormously positive impact on life and culture in the United States.  Many of America's leaders were educated in schools sponsored by various faiths.  According to the most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics, private primary and secondary schools educate 10% or 5.2 million U.S. students annually.  The more than 27,000 private schools in the U.S. use few if any public funds and save local, state and federal governments billions of dollars a year in education costs.

The rising cost of education and the reduction of religious who once worked for minimal wages in private schools have led to massive closings of inner city, mostly Catholic, schools, which once educated immigrants and other urban children.  It is our hope that the Nativity, San Miguel, and Cristo Rey schools can reverse this trend by making private education available to young people who otherwise cannot afford it.   

Our grants are made to people with the vocation, skills, talents and determination to create educational opportunities for young people placed at risk.  We are grateful to be part of the ongoing effort by foundations, individuals, corporations and others to create educational alternatives for children and adolescents in some of America's most economically challenged urban communities.