A "mystery shopper" program is something you expect at a retail store concerned over customer satisfaction and patronage. But it can also be an appropriate technique in the non-commercial realm, such as our state's public schools — if it's done right.

The Department of Education has announced it will start a program to secretly check on how its classified workers deal with the public. Already the program has raised eyebrows among some school district workers who view the idea as a form of secret spying.

That makes it imperative that, if the district moves forward with its "Project Aloha" program, it be done in a non-punitive manner. It should be treated as a tool to provide information to help schools improve problem areas relative to customer service. It should not be a formal assessment of employee performance.

The state's Board of Education has a policy calling for "user-friendly" schools that's been in place since 1996. But DOE spokesperson Greg Knudsen called Project Aloha the first time a uniform approach has been put together to raise awareness of the need for good community relations.

Indeed, if the district intends to instill a culture of customer service in public schools, the importance of these values must be clearly communicated directly to school staff up front and with consistency.

Adequate staffing needs, too, should be addressed so that phones aren't left unanswered or callers left on hold in perpetuity.

So what does customer service have to do with education? Plenty. Parents truly are "customers" at local schools. And when parents partner with schools and are involved in their children's education, schools — and students — are more successful.

When that happens, we might begin to see a change in another measure reflective of the public's general perception of our public schools: the increasing number of parents opting to put their kids in private schools.