CB> CB> Hmmmmm, since he stated the student is a customer
CB> 
CB>  MS>     The _student_ is not the "customer" in the K-12 
CB>  MS> industry, since the student neither pays the bills 
CB>  MS> nor (for the vast majority of students) chooses 
CB>  MS> the school he goes to.  
CB> 
CB> Shows me how little you know about Deming, 
    This isn't a Deming issue, it's a _definitional_ issue from any 
dictionary.
    Merriam-Webster defines "customer" as:
        "Buyer, purchaser; esp. a regular or frequent buyer".
    K-12 students are not "customers" by this definition, since they neither 
buy (pay) nor purchase (obtain by paying money or its equivalent) in the 
educational marketplace.  It is _taxpayers_, not K-12 students, who fulfill 
these dictionary definitions of "customer" and "purchase".
    It's the same as a mother hiring a pediatrician to give her 2-year-old 
shots.  The mother, not the 2-year-old, is the "customer" by the standards of 
the dictionary definition.
    Step one in satisfying your customers is to know who your customers are!!
--- Simplex BBS (v1.07.00Beta [DOS])
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