Changes to how students learn about sex could be coming to Arizona classrooms if a handful of Democrats win enough support this legislative session. 

The proposed bill would require school districts to develop sex education curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade. Parents would have to opt out of a school's program, rather than the current opt-in setup.  

“Everybody needs this information. Period," said Democratic State Senator Andrew Sherwood, of Tempe, one of the state lawmakers sponsoring Senate Bill 1020.

"This should be an opt-out only program where it’s the default," he said.

Run the numbers on how many schools teach sex education topics — everything from the benefits of abstinence to the importance of using condoms correctly — and Arizona tends to come in last, according to recent numbers from the Centers for Disease Control.

Sex education varies widely from district to district in Arizona, with some offering no kind of program.

"I think the presumption with a lot of people is that if you have folks who opt a child out, you would get that information somewhere else," Sherwood said. "But, as we're seeing in Arizona, sometimes you don't."

The legislation outlines various criteria that each district would have to teach. Programs would have to include "medically accurate, developmentally accurate and age-appropriate" information, the benefits of contraception for preventing sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy and the importance of "developing the relationship and communication skills to form healthy relationships."

The Board of Education would provide oversight and could exercise discretion by modifying or eliminating certain components in elementary schools.

Six democrats are introducing the bill. Sherwood said he believes the legislation can win broad support because it's "a middle ground" and intended to help reduce abortions and sexually transmitted diseases.

But a recent donor email from the Center for Arizona Policy called the legislation “bad for parents, bad for families and not what Arizona is about.”

In the same email, the group also took aim at another piece of proposed legislation coming from democrats, including Sherwood.

Senate Bill 1019 would repeal the current prohibition from promoting or portraying "homosexuality as a positive alternative life style," or suggesting that there are some safe methods of homosexual sex during AIDS and HIV instruction.

"Mandating sex education for all public schools beginning in Kindergarten, removing all boundaries as to what should be taught about heterosexual and homosexual sex, and pulling a fast-one on parents by switching the law from opt-in to opt-out is not the Arizona I know." wrote CAP legal counsel Josh Kredit 

Debates over sex education have embroiled several local school districts in recent years, including Tempe Union High School District in 2014.