The term "skin in the game" has been variously thrown around recently concerning the state's proposed intervention into five low-performing Hamilton County public schools.
State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, used the term in fearing that district administrators won't have "skin in the game to make it succeed" since many there don't want the intervention in the first place.
Earlier this week, City Councilman Russell Gilbert didn't name Gardenhire but referred to "negativity from other political individuals" and maintained he had "skin in the game" because he had family members who attend the affected schools.
The fact is we all have skin in the game, no one more than another.
If the schools improve, we all benefit.
Here's the rub. The five schools in question, Brainerd High, Dalewood and Orchard Knob Middle, and Woodmore and Orchard Knob Elementary, have been struggling for more than a decade.
We have heard both Gardenhire and Gilbert talk about their individual interest in the county's public schools, but Hamilton County Board of Education members, Hamilton County commissioners, the other City Council members and the rest of the Hamilton County legislative delegation are no less interested.
Nevertheless, the corner for the low-performing schools hasn't been turned.
The Tennessee Department of Education, meanwhile, has monitored the situation, sent more than $10 million the school district's way in hopes the schools will improve, and now feels an obligation to implement an intervention that has been understood for several years would likely happen with no improvement.
Suddenly, people want to put on the brakes. State Rep. JoAnne Favors says the state ought to wait, Gilbert wants the state to give the district two more years, and some school board members and school district administrators have been skeptical.
State Education Commissioner Candice McQueen, who recommended the creation of a Partnership Zone for the schools rather than a full state takeover, has been patient and accommodating with all the local "stops," "waits" and "no fairs." There may even be room for more accommodation. But the state also has skin in the game, and it believes lack of meaningful improvement is no longer an option.