I think K-12ers are a lot more capable than people give them credit. The thing is, high schoolers know the curriculum is complete propaganda. That's why there are behavioral issues. They're being forced to regurgitate lies and propaganda, and they know it's a waste of time. CRT is just an involved discussion of racism. We should be having those discussions. Our school systems are racist in a number of ways including the overrepresentation of white teachers. I used to get in trouble when I tried to slip in the truth in my classes ("Hey kids, some suggested reading that I'm not allowed to discuss here..."). Here's an article that's semi related: https://medium.com/the-faculty/systemic-racism-keeps-native-speakers-from-teaching-language-918cda510209