A fourth candidate has announced his intention to run for the District 45 seat in the Iowa House of Representatives.

Leonard Larsen, 3158 South Dakota Ave., said he decided to run because he wants to see growth in the government and support for education and the environment.

Larsen said he will focus on education, the environment and the economy. He said he has been involved in education for more than 20 years and would like to see it improved.

“I’m concerned with education … I’ve seen the effects of the No Child Left Behind Act,” Larsen said.

“They were going to have our [special education] kids take standardized tests and expect them to do well.”

Larsen said he also wants to address the rising costs of tuition, textbooks and invisible fees for college students.

He said he is concerned about the predatory practices of creditors and how universities and colleges handle students’ privacy.

One of Larsen’s supporters said he learned a lot about the candidate’s goals while working with him.

“[Education] is a primary focus of his … not just limited to public schools and for higher education,” said Jim Duea, 2707 Pierce Ave.

Duea taught U.S. government with Larsen at Ames High School during the summer.

He said he thinks Larsen is highly qualified to run for the House seat and that he is concerned with the environment and education.

“I think Leonard has a tremendous interest in politics,” Duea said.

“He is very concerned about a number of issues regarding our state and our community.”

Larsen said he has worked on both sides of education as an administrator as well as a teacher. He was a principal for the United Community Schools in Boone for four years, has been a special education teacher at Ames High School and has taught history at Des Moines Area Community College.

He said he thinks larger government entities, such as the Department of Education, should not be allowed to dictate what level students should perform at. Instead, individual schools should set their own goals and standards.

“The Secretary of Education [Rod Paige] is a P.E. teacher from Texas,” Larsen said. “He is the person who named the [National Education Association] a terrorist organization.”

Larsen said riding on RAGBRAI six times has allowed him to see the negative effects of corporations on small businesses.

“You don’t have to go to Podunk, Iowa, to see [a boarded-up downtown]; you can see it through downtown Ames,” he said.

Larsen said he would like to see city governments support small businesses to fight “Wal-Martism.”

“We need to get money into the hands of small business holders rather than huge corporations,” Larsen said.

He said he was disappointed with the outcome of the debate about support for a new regional mall near the interchange of Interstate 35 and 13th Street.

“The biggest problem with the mall is the proximity to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Animal Disease Center,” Larsen said.

Larsen said he felt the environmental issues in District 45 are very important.

“We don’t have to go protest about baby seals somewhere else — we have environmental problems right here in Iowa,” he said.