There is a growing trend among school leaders and policymakers to encourage staff to view their roles through the lens of customer service.

Pressure to compete with charter and private institutions has pushed schools to prioritize community satisfaction and emphasize meeting parents’ and students’ sometimes unreasonable demands.

However, this mindset undermines teachers’ autonomy and disregards the personal boundaries they need to protect their mental health and well-being.

Here’s why teaching is not and should not be treated as customer service.

1. The customer is always right?

Like hell they are!

If we consider our customers to be parents and students, they are often wrong—dead wrong. Students and parents consistently push our boundaries, challenge policies and grades, and make unreasonable demands.

Yes, professionalism is key, but we shouldn’t be expected to answer emails at any hour, have work packets created if someone is going on vacation, change grades, et cetera et cetera.

2. Teachers are not selling a product.

Customer service clearly identifies a product or service. I buy Starbucks, and I get a grande Iced Chai Latte. I buy a toy from Walmart and expect it to work. But what teachers “provide” is much harder to quantify. A teacher’s role involves fostering creativity, teaching soft skills, and encouraging academic and behavioral growth. Results might not be apparent until much later; it’s the long game in education.

Although some have tried, you can’t return your kid like you can an undercooked steak.

3. Learning is a collaborative process, not a transaction.

Customer service implies a transaction occurs. Customers provide currency and, in return, receive a tangible service or product.

Education, on the other hand, is a collaborative journey between teachers, students, and families. Teachers can provide resources, guidance, and knowledge, but learning requires active participation from the students and parents.

Teachers cannot “deliver” knowledge the way McDonald’s delivers a burger, fries, and a shake.

Unlike customers, students aren’t passive recipients. They are partners in their own education and they must work hard to achieve results. Viewing students and parents as customers undermines their role in the learning process and risks creating a culture of entitlement and enablers.

This is where we are headed.

3. Education focuses on growth, not satisfaction.

The goal of customer service is satisfaction—making sure the customer leaves happy. Students aren’t always going to leave satisfied if they are required to expand their comfort zones. This is where real growth occurs.

If teachers were to prioritize “satisfaction” above all else, it could lead to watered-down expectations. Education would then be about providing entertainment without student effort. Real educational growth often involves struggle, and that’s a necessary part of development.

4. The teacher-student relationship is unique.

The relationship between a teacher and student is not the same as a customer/service worker one. Teachers are mentors, coaches, and role models. They are responsible for maintaining authority, setting boundaries, and making decisions in the best interest of their students—sometimes against the immediate wishes of students or parents.

Effective teachers don’t seek to please students for popularity. Instead, they maintain a healthy balance between discipline and relationship building.

A transactional relationship would diminish our effectiveness as true classroom leaders.

5. Boundaries must be maintained.

 “The customer is always right” just doesn’t apply In education. The focus is on meeting the diverse needs of students, not catering to their every demand.

Parents and students are not the customers; our society is. When parents feel as though they have control and can get the teacher in trouble, chaos ensues.

Administrators must take a hard stance on giving parents unnecessary power over teachers. Teachers should never be expected to meet unreasonable demands to please parents and protect their jobs. This is what takes a toll on teachers and causes us to leave faster than a teacher can spot a cell phone.

We should know our administration has our backs at all times. 

Reframing the Conversation

Instead of treating education like customer service, we should celebrate it as a unique and vital profession that shapes the future. Teachers are not here to please; they are here to provide learning opportunities and experiences.

They don’t provide a service; they provide the circumstances necessary for their students to grow academically and behaviorally into productive members of society. That’s huge.

This isn’t to say that educators should dismiss concerns from parents or students. Collaboration is key, but outlandish demands and requests should not be expected to be entertained by teachers. Period.