LYNCH WRONG NOT TO TREAT STUDENTS AS CUSTOMERS.(MAIN)

Byline: JEAN A. BAVE-KERWIN Slingerlands

As a professional with deep interest in customer service issues, I cannot let Dan Lynch's column on a local school district's efforts to treat students as customers go unanswered. Mr. Lynch emphatically expressed his opinion that he, as the taxpayer, is the customer, not the student.

In the course of my work helping government agencies understand what customer service means in their environment, I frequently find that people who have just scratched the surface of this issue make the same mistake as Dan. Customers are the direct recipients of a work product, as almost any serious writing on this subject will confirm. …