Sheehan, a Norman High School teacher who is currently in the running with only three other teachers for National Teacher of the Year, said he decided to run only after being asked to do so two weeks ago.

“That’s not something that’s ever been on my radar,” said Sheehan, a registered independent running for Senate District 15. “The tipping point for me was being involved with the standards-writing process as a math teacher. It was very frustrating to me that just a handful of individuals could derail the work of thousands of educators in our state with push-back in the days before the Legislature was going to act on them. Three of those individuals were from out of the state. I was just like, ‘This is not acceptable.’ ”

Sheehan said he was “anxious to get back to teaching” but he feels a responsibility to take a stand against the status quo at the state Capitol.

“I can’t just go right back to my classroom knowing what I know now and having had the conversations that I’ve had over the last year,” he said. “There’s too much work to do. It’s heavy on my heart that I won’t be teaching next spring if I’m elected. But what’s worse is kids in Moore, Cordell, Glenpool, Tulsa need help, and what’s going on is not OK.”