The mission of the Office for Civil Rights is to ensure equal access to
education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation through
vigorous enforcement of civil rights.
It serves student populations facing discrimination and the advocates and
institutions promoting systemic solutions to civil rights problems. An important
responsibility is resolving complaints of discrimination. Agency-initiated
cases, typically called compliance reviews, permit OCR to target resources
on compliance problems that appear particularly acute. OCR also provides
technical assistance to help institutions achieve voluntary compliance with
the civil rights laws that OCR enforces. An important part of OCR's technical
assistance are partnerships designed to develop creative approaches to preventing
and addressing discrimination.
Legal Mandate:
- Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964—Race/Color/National Origin
- Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972—Sex
- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973—Disability
- Age Discrimination Act of 1975—Age
- Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990—Disability
A complaint of discrimination can be filed by anyone who believes that an
education institution that receives Federal financial assistance has discriminated
against someone on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability,
or age. The person or organization filing the complaint need not be a victim
of the alleged discrimination, but may complain on behalf of another person
or group.
San Francisco Office
Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Education
50 Beale Street, Suite 7200
San Francisco, CA 94105
Telephone: 415-486-5555
FAX: 415-486-5570; TDD: 877-521-2172
Email: ocr.sanfrancisco@ed.gov
OCR
website
Resources
