Sex ed bill clears N.C. Senate

RALEIGH, N.C. — A bill requiring all school systems to offer comprehensive sex education cleared the state Senate Tuesday.

The bill passed with a vote of 25-21 and now returns to the House, where lawmakers there will work to concur with the Senate's changes to the version the House passed in April.

Under the Senate bill, the measure would be part of a larger reproductive health education curriculum that would still retain the abstinence-until-marriage curriculum that remains the current offering for nearly all 115 state school districts.

Parents would be able to keep their children from participating in classes with the more detailed information on contraceptives.

The House version would require schools to teach two separate tracks - one abstinence-based and the other the comprehensive sex education that's similar to what a handful of districts are allowed to teach.

The House version also would require parents to fill out a permission slip for a child to participate in a track, or choose that their child get no sex education.