A curriculum audit for an Arizona school district last year identified a resource that urged teachers to direct students to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “hate map” and avoid the websites of “hate groups” or their sympathizers. Critics have faulted the SPLC for putting mainstream conservative and Christian groups, such as Moms for Liberty, Turning Point USA, PragerU, Focus on the Family, Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council, and others, on a “hate map” with chapters of the Ku Klux Klan. The Lake Havasu Unified School District told The Daily Signal that no teacher ever used the resource, which the district said had been created by Savvas Learning Company. The Lesson Citing SPLC The curriculum audit, prepared by J.C. Adams Consulting, cites Savvas’ high school materials for U.S. history, named “Creating Inclusive Classrooms.” “Teachers are told to ‘Direct students to the websites of organizations that track and monitor hate groups, such as the Southern Poverty Law Center or the Anti-Defamation League and ensure that they avoid visiting the websites of these hate groups or their sympathizers,'” the audit notes. “Students are thus directed to organizations accused of far-left advocacy and who attack critics of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” The audit lists a few organizations on the “hate map,” including Turning Point USA, PragerU, the Family Research Council, Alliance Defending Freedom, Defending Education, Moms for America, and Eagle Forum. “Students are to learn that the following organizations are ‘hate groups’ (akin to the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis) [and] teachers are to prohibit students from visiting their websites,” the audit notes. The SPLC does not name all of these groups as “hate groups.” Some, such as Defending Education, appear on the “hate map” as “antigovernment extremist groups,” but they still appear on the map alongside Klan chapters. The SPLC has stated that the map shows the “infrastructure upholding white supremacy.” Lake Havasu School District Responds Jason Usry, the school district’s communications coordinator, confirmed the report’s authenticity to The Daily Signal. Adams, the consultant who wrote the report, received “access to teacher-accessible online materials,” but did not visit classrooms or meet with individual teachers to learn how they used the materials, Usry explained. The Savvas lesson in question “was ultimately found within supplemental materials that teachers do not use,” the district spokesman said. When reviewing the lesson, the district “determined that staff were not using the referenced material for instruction and were not familiar with where it was located.” “During classroom instruction, teachers use lesson PowerPoints and instructional materials that do not reference the SPLC or other activist organizations,” Usry added. School board President David Rose said no teacher used the material, to his knowledge. “To the best of my knowledge, the specific Savvas lesson being referenced was never available to our teachers for classroom instruction, and I am not aware of any teacher within our district ever using or presenting that material in a classroom setting,” he told The Daily Signal. “Our schools exist to educate students in core academics, not to push political ideology or direct students toward activist organizations,” he added. “Parents should be able to trust that their children are receiving a quality education in an environment focused on learning, achievement, and student success.” He noted that the board ordered the comprehensive curriculum audit and “took immediate action on anything that raised concerns.” The district acted “to ensure any inappropriate, politically driven, or activist based content was removed from curriculum access,” and one of its departments “went even further to verify that this type of material would not be accessible to teachers or students.” Savvas did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by publication time. SPLC’s Legal Troubles Last month, a federal grand jury indicted the SPLC on fraud charges for allegedly paying Klan members while fundraising on combatting the Klan. The SPLC pleaded not guilty in court Thursday. While the center has claimed that it only paid Klan members as part of an “informant program,” the indictment alleges that the SPLC directed the activities of “field sources” in a manner that would promote white supremacy. Following the indictment, major financial institutions such as Fidelity have prevented donor-advised funds from going to the SPLC. The indictment has also drawn renewed attention to the SPLC’s influence in schools. Its education program, Learning for Justice, publishes materials for teachers. Some school districts have adopted Learning for Justice’s “Social Justice Standards.” A Moms for Liberty leader spoke in protest against this policy at a Maryland school board meeting Thursday. SPLC IN SCHOOLSA huge thank you to @Moms4Liberty leader @rosalindhanson for calling out MCPS's support for SPLC at the school board meeting today!She called out an MCPS leader demonizing Moms for Liberty and held up my book, "Making Hate Pay"https://t.co/kYpCa1yTyl pic.twitter.com/92G42jsfNA— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) May 7, 2026