Bob Walsh, who has been the executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island as long as many of us have been paying attention, or even been present in the state, has announced his impending retirement.

Some on the conservative side are understandably happy to hear the news, but I’d caution a bit of circumspection for two reasons.

The first is that his replacement could be much worse.  My impression may be wrong, but Walsh has always seemed to me to be enough of a political junky, who enjoys actual debate enough, that he stays closer to the line of fair play than is the case for many of his coworkers and close allies.  In some ways, that may make him more effective, but it certainly allows opportunity for those who disagree with him.

The second is that he’s probably not going away.  The letter that he sent to his union’s members explains his decision as giving him “time for another adventure or two.”  Maybe that means trying his hand at mixed martial arts, or maybe it means applying his vast connections and practical knowledge to an even more extreme charge in his far-left activism… while opening up the highly paid slot in the far-left progressive movement in Rhode Island that he’s held for decades.

Maybe his departure will work out for truth, civil liberties, and the good of Rhode Island, but it’s far from certain.

Featured image by Tiago Donangelo Figueira on Unsplash.