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Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Reading Room

Background Information

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) works to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation through vigorous enforcement of civil rights laws. The civil rights laws enforced by OCR extend to all state education agencies, elementary and secondary school systems, colleges and universities, vocational schools, proprietary schools, state vocational rehabilitation agencies, libraries, and museums that receive U.S. Department of Education funds. Discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin is prohibited by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; sex discrimination is prohibited by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; discrimination on the basis of disability is prohibited by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and age discrimination is prohibited by the Age Discrimination Act of 1975.

Documents posted in this reading room were published in the Federal Register or were otherwise made available to the public. Policy and legal interpretations announced in these materials may have been superseded or modified by federal court decisions or by later interpretations of the legal requirements involved. Placement of the document in the reading room does not reflect its importance relative to other OCR documents or to court decisions. The list of OCR documents currently available is not all-inclusive. Please contact OCR@ed.gov for more information.

 


Policy | Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) | Civil Rights Enforcement | Correspondence | OCR Reports

Policy 

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Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 


Civil Rights Enforcement 

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Correspondence 

  • Congressional Correspondence – View select interactions between OCR leadership and members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
  • Federal Entity Correspondence and Testimony – View select testimony and correspondence on topics related to students’ civil rights and civil rights violations, which also includes religious exemption claims.
  • Stakeholder Correspondence – View select correspondence between OCR leadership and community organizations on a variety of civil rights topics. 

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  • Annual Reports – OCR Annual Reports highlight the results of our work in each fiscal year and are required by the Department of Education Organization Act.
  • OCR Budget Request – Explore past budget requests outlining the funding requested for OCR’s operation per fiscal year.

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Other OCR documents that are not currently posted on our web page may be requested using Department of Education Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request procedures.

Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
Page Last Reviewed:
April 11, 2025