"We need some help," the activist told me during one of our phone conversations. "Maybe we should call Dr. Scott."

"That sounds fine to me," I replied. "Once you tell me who Dr. Scott is."

Dr. Scott turned out to be Eugenie C. Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) in California. I called her, and she helped us win over that stubborn Missouri school board. More importantly, that call was the beginning of a relationship between NCSE and Americans United that continues to bear fruit more than 20 years later.

Although it operates on a relatively small budget, the NCSE has become the nation's premier organization for debunking creationist arguments and advocating for sound science in America's public schools. Many NCSE staff members are scientists. Scott herself is a physical anthropologist.

The group's science spin is what makes it so valuable and important. When we're combatting creationism at the local level, AU brings the law, and NCSE brings the science. 

This partnership played out perfectly nine years ago when AU, the NCSE and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania joined forces to fight the teaching of "intelligent design" in Dover, Pa.

The ACLU had plaintiffs on the ground and knew the lay of the land in the state. Americans United brought attorneys who focused on church-state separation like a laser. NCSE provided the third, and vital, component: expert scientific witnesses who were able to explain to the court why intelligent design isn't science.

You might recall how that case, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, turned out: The decision was a slam dunk for church-state separation. U.S. District Judge John E. Jones (an appointee of President George W. Bush) didn't hold back.

In his decision, Jones blasted the board that had adopted intelligent design - a concept most of them couldn't even explain.

"Despite this collective failure to understand the concept of ID, which six Board members nonetheless felt was appropriate to add to ninth grade biology class to improve science education, the Board never heard from any person or organization with scientific expertise about the curriculum change, save for consistent but unwelcome advices from the District's science teachers who uniformly opposed the change," wrote Jones. "In disregarding the teachers' views, the Board ignored undeviating opposition to the curriculum change by the one resource with scientific expertise immediately at its disposal."

Jones also slammed "the breathtaking inanity of the Board's decision...."

Recently, Scott - Genie to most people - announced that she plans to retire as director of the NCSE at the end of this year, capping a remarkable 27 years of service. She was profiled in yesterday's New York Times and offered some reflections on the long-running battle to keep good science in our public schools.

"People ask me, `We still have this problem; what good has NCSE done?' Scott told the newspaper. She then answered that question: "Working with local groups, we have stopped a lot of really bad resolutions and policies at the state level. We need to do a lot more, but textbooks all have evolution now. They don't qualify it with, `Some scientists believe....'"

We at AU can testify to that fact. The situation regarding evolution in the public schools may not be perfect, but it would be a lot worse if Genie and the NCSE hadn't been around. It's especially impressive that the group has achieved so much on a modest budget that is dwarfed by the large creationist ministries.

Kenneth R. Miller, a biologist at Brown University and one of the nation's most prominent advocates of better evolution education, said it best.

"There is no single organization in the United States that has been as important in the battle over evolution as the National Center for Science Education," Miller told The Times. He praised the NCSE for mobilizing "scientists, educators, lay people, religious groups, skeptics, agnostics, believers, scholars and ordinary citizens" to promote better science education.

Americans United is sad to see Genie go, but we also know that she has well earned her retirement. We're confident that the NCSE will find a new leader and will continue to be an important voice in the struggle to keep fundamentalist dogma out of public schools.

We're also heartened by the almost-certain knowledge that Genie, even in retirement, will stay involved. Her voice is too important and powerful to remain silent.

Rest assured, we haven't heard the last from Dr. Scott.