What is the United States Department of Education Office for
Civil Rights (OCR) and what do they do? AccessIT Article ID:
1218 The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights
(OCR) is a federal agency with the responsibility of ensuring
equal access to education through the enforcement of civil
rights. Several federal agencies have offices for civil rights
attached to them, but the OCR in the Department of Education is
specifically responsible for enforcing numerous federal civil
rights laws that prohibit discrimination in programs or
activities that receive federal financial assistance from the
Department of Education. This includes all public education
institutions—i.e., all state education agencies, elementary and
secondary school systems, colleges and universities, vocational
schools, and proprietary schools—as well as state vocational
rehabilitation agencies, libraries, and museums that receive
U.S. Department of Education funds. The federal laws that OCR
enforces prohibit discrimination on the