A former state teacher of the year is moving to Texas, saying he can no longer afford to work in Oklahoma on a teacher’s salary.

“The simple truth is that we can be paid a respectable wage for doing the same job - this job we love very much - by heading out of state,” Shawn Sheehan, a Norman math teacher, wrote in a Thursday blog post.

Sheehan was named Oklahoma teacher of the year in 2016 and was one of dozens of teachers who ran for the state Legislature last year. His bid for the state Senate was unsuccessful.

Sheehan wrote a guest column for The Oklahoman earlier this year titled “Should I stay or should I go.”