INDIANAPOLIS -- If 23 Indiana schools currently on academic probation for the fourth-straight year don't show real improvement, the state may step in and take over.

The state is legally allowed to assume operations at schools if they remain on the probation list for five straight years.

"If those schools do not turn around or do not have an adequate plan to turn around their schools, by the end of the 2010-2011 school year, the state will step in and the state will not flinch in terms of taking whatever action is necessary to provide an adequate education for those children," said Superintendent for Public Instruction Tony Bennett.

The list includes many Indianapolis Public Schools, including Arlington Community High School; Broad Ripple High School; Carr Howe High School; Manual High School; Northwest High School; Emma Donnan Middle School; Gambold Middle School; and George Washington Community School.

The state has never taken over a school, and IPS officials said the district does not intend be the first.

"I hate the fact we want to blame anybody," said IPS spokeswoman Mary Louise Bewley. "I think what we need to do is come together and figure out what specific strategies that will work for a high-poverty and high-transient population."

The assistant principal of Gambold Middle School said the school is making academic progress under the federal No Child Left Behind program, but is still struggling on the state level.

"It never feels like a losing battle because they are not in the trenches working with our students," said Retha Swain. "We take it personally because these are our babies."

In Grant County, Marion High School has also been on probation for four straight years.

Fort Wayne's North Side High School and South Side High School are both on the list, while East Allen has three schools -- Harding High School, Chapman Academy and Village Elementary.

Nine schools in northwest Indiana finished off the list -- Bendix School; Calumet High School; Central Elementary; East Chicago Central High School; Hammond High School; Morton High School; Riley High School; T. Roosevelt High School; and Washington High School.

Bennett said he is working with the State Board of Education to come up with a more transparent system of holding schools accountable. He said it may include grading schools A through F, a tactic currently being tried in Florida.

Bennett will meet with IPS Superintendent Eugene White about the situation on Thursday.

More Information: Public Law 221 Fact Sheet