A fair amount of scholarly work has already begun to address the broader social implications of the current wave of bans on educational content stemming from a 2020 executive order. However, while those efforts explore a range of legal questions and allow CRT scholars to clarify misrepresentations of CRT, none of those works consider the pedagogical impact of knowledge-based bans on standards-based teaching and learning in primary and secondary schools. They also do not address the degree to which these policies are directly at odds with proven K-12 instructional practices. This paper interrogates the explosion of unfocused prohibitive legislative efforts which all began with EO 13950’s targeting of diversity training. It highlights a theme involving policymakers and critics authoring irresponsible and sweeping attacks on learning that centers diverse perspectives and race-related conversations. This paper concludes that restrictive measures which utilize vague language to impose harsh limits on instruction involving diverse content and bans CRT have already begun to produce two outcomes. One outcome will involve content being eliminated entirely. The other will limit engagement with knowledge at the 1st and 2nd DOK levels as cognitive rigor cannot occur under conditions where learners cannot grapple with broader considerations.