MS> CB>  MS>     The _student_ is not the "customer" in the K-12 
MS> CB>  MS> industry, since the student neither pays the bills 
MS> CB>  MS> nor (for the vast majority of students) chooses 
MS> CB>  MS> the school he goes to.  
MS> CB> 
MS> CB> Shows me how little you know about Deming, 
MS>  
MS>     This isn't a Deming issue, it's a _definitional_ issue from any 
MS>     Merriam-Webster defines "customer" as:
MS>         "Buyer, purchaser; esp. a regular or frequent buyer".
MS>  
MS>     K-12 students are not "customers" by this definition, since they
MS> buy (pay) nor purchase (obtain by paying money or its equivalent) in
MS> educational marketplace.  It is _taxpayers_, not K-12 students, who 
MS> these dictionary definitions of "customer" and "purchase".
 
PMFJI here Matt,
 
   But why would you limit your definition of customer to what Webster 
defines? Some dictionaries loosely define customer as one "you have to 
deal with".  In the context of Quality a customer can be that person 
who receives your product or is a beneficiary of your service.  Maybe a 
shift from the normal paradigm of what a customer is, but then again 
a lot about the quality process involves "thinking outside the box".
 
Dale
--- TriDog 10.0
---------------