His name won't appear in November, but he's not a stranger to Fort Wayne.

Kevin Brown, Fort Wayne Community Schools board member, is running for state superintendent of public instruction as a write-in candidate. A Democrat, he did not earn the backing of his party, but still felt public education in Indiana needed a hand.

“We can send a man to the moon, we can build pyramids that last forever, but we can't get our finger on the pulse of why we can't get our kids educated,” he said.

Brown, 51, who has served as a FWCS board member for a little more than a year and a half, is facing Republican Tony Bennett and Democrat Richard Wood. Bennett is superintendent of Greater Clark County Schools, an 11,000-student system in southern Indiana, and has served in education more than 20 years, according to his campaign Web site, www.drtonybennett.com.

Wood retired this year after a 36-year career in public education. He served as the superintendent of the Tippecanoe School Corporation in Lafayette/West Lafayette, according to his campaign Web site, www.richardwood.org.

Brown, a contract administrator for Dana Holding Corp., said he didn't feel the two candidates vying to replace Suellen Reed had the necessary experience.