Editor's note

NEA Today, Feb 2002 by Fischer, Bill

We spend about 14 cents a copy to get each issue of NEA Today into the hands of NEA's 2.6 million members eight times a year, so we pay a lot of attention to what's going on with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

Our mailing costs could go up considerably if the Postal Service Board of Governors approves a proposed 12 to 15 percent rate hike for periodicals.

The recent anthrax scare and the related expenses that the Postal Service has incurred for the cost of tightening mail security have added to the size of its billion-dollar bud Congress did appropriate some $700 million to offset at least some of these extra expenses. The USPS still estimates it will lose somewhere around a billion dollars without significant reduction of costs and increases in fees.

The latest thinking from experts who watch over postal issues for us is that the 12 to 15 percent rate hike will take effect this spring. We're hoping that the May issue of NEA Today will already be in the mail by the time the rate hike kicks in, saving the Association thousands of dollars.

While we can't control things like postal rate hikes, there are things we are doing to reduce postal expenses.

For one, copies of NEA Today are commingled for mailing with other commercial publications from the same printer to qualify for reduced postal rates. Copies of the magazine are also sorted to 9-digit zip codes, which also saves postal costs.

Controlling other costs, especially the cost of paper and printing, also yields savings that can help offset postal hikes. A few years ago, we switched to inkjetting mailing addresses onto each copy, thus eliminating the extra step of preparing paper labels and attaching them in the binding process.

We'll continue to stay current with other potential moneysaving techniques.

Bill Flecher

editor