The debate over whether Indiana should spend public tax dollars on private schools—is over.

The school voucher bill has now passed both houses of the Indiana General Assembly and could be on its way to the governor’s desk.

On Thursday, the Indiana State Senate approved the measure by a vote of 28 to 22. Nine Republicans joined all 13 Democrats in voting against the bill. The approval came after an amendment designed to ensure that only pro-American private schools were eligible to receive state money.

Locally, Senators Charbonneau, Glick, and Yoder voted yes, while Senators Arnold, Broden, Mishler, Tallian, and Zakas voted no.

The voucher bill began the legislative session by offering something for just about everybody, and it was a big reason why Democrats in the Indiana House of Representatives staged a walk out.

“At first, this bill had an income threshold of $101-thousand, which, that’s literally two and a half times what the average Hoosier family makes,” said Ind. Sen. John Broden, (D) South Bend.

The voucher bill ended up as a program to help poor families with kids stuck in poor performing public schools.

“For some of these kids in schools that are just not providing what they need or they're not getting what they need for whatever reason, it finally gives parents the ability for the first time if they can’t afford it, to say I may have a choice here,” said Sen. Carlin Yoder, (R) Goshen.

To qualify for private school vouchers, Hoosier families would have to meet income guidelines. A family of four earning $40-thousand or less would get the maximum benefit of $4,500 per year to help pay private school tuition.

For incomes between $40-thousand and $60-thousand the state will provide $2,500 per year toward private tuition.

But every public tax dollar gained by a private school is a dollar that leaves a public school.

For some public school districts, that arguably makes a bad situation—worse.

“I believe our public tuition dollars are very scarce as it is, I mean the South Bend Community schools are probably going to receive when you include property tax cap losses, about $4 million less over the biennium than they're receiving right now,” said Senator Broden. “And so to spread those resources even further, by taking those state tuition dollars and distributing them to individuals to then attend private schools, I think it spreads our public resources way too thin and we need to focus on making our public schools excellent.”

“I’m committed to working with public education,” says Senator Yoder, who co-sponsored the voucher bill. “But I will say that time after time we’ve seen that putting more and more money into public education is certainly not the answer. We’ve seen that in IPS (Indianapolis Public Schools), we’ve seen that in Gary and some other schools where they get outrageous amounts of money for their kids, and nothing to show for it.”

Yoder is convinced that the public schools will benefit from the competitive atmosphere vouchers will provide.

“So if you’re in a system that just is in horrible shape, why not give them a little competition, why not give them a little push toward making the difficult changes they need to make, to ensure that that school provides the education they need,” Yoder said.

The latest amendments require private schools to be patriotic schools in order to receive vouchers.

“If you’re going to take a voucher, if the school is going to take a voucher, they need to be pro-American,” said Senator Yoder.

An amendment added in the senate requires that private schools display a United States flag in every classroom, and that students be provided with at least one daily opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

“You’ll have to have certain documents that are accessible in your school, such as the Declaration of Independence,” added Yoder.

It is now up to the house author of the voucher bill to decide if he will accept the changes made by the senate. If the answer is yes, the bill moves on to the governor’s desk. If the answer is no, the measure heads to a conference committee.