Posted on 08/27/2002 5:47:49 AM PDT by CholeraJoe
Augusta kids killed
By CAROLYNN BRIGHT, IR Staff Writer - 08/27/02
Swanson faces 2 counts of murder.
A 46-year-old Augusta mother allegedly shot and killed two of her four children as they slept in their beds at the family ranch about 15 miles southwest of Augusta early Monday.
Jeanette Swanson faces two counts of deliberate homicide in connection with the shootings and is being held in the Lewis and Clark County Jail without bond.
Swanson was placed on suicide watch at the jail Monday afternoon while the bodies of her children a 10-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy were brought to the State Crime Lab in Missoula, where an autopsy will be conducted, said Undersheriff Cheryl Liedle.
According to Liedle, emergency responders flocked to the Swanson Ranch just before 6 a.m. after Swanson called 911, reporting that she had shot her two children.
Swansons other two children boys, ages 16 and 20 were in the house at the time of the killing, but were unharmed in the incident.
Swansons husband, Gene, was sleeping in a camp trailer outside the residence when the shootings occurred, Liedle said.
According to reports, Swanson was waiting at the door of the residence when emergency crews arrived.
Her children were located in their beds inside both were dead at the scene, Liedle said.
Liedle said a firearm believed to have been used in the shootings was recovered at the family home, but officials will await the results of the autopsies to determine whether it was, in fact, the murder weapon.
Court documents indicate that Swansons 20-year-old son reported to authorities that his mother had a .38 Smith and Wesson gun in her possession when she placed the 911 call, but Liedle would not confirm whether that was the same make of gun seized at the scene.
Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Sam McCormack said Monday morning that a motive for the killings was sketchy.
However, he said that Swanson and her husband had argued last week about Swansons decision to enroll the two children in school in Augusta Gene Swanson wanted his wife to continue to home school the kids on the ranch while she wanted them to attend public school.
The children attended their first classes at school in Augusta last week.
Don't kid yourself, there are clicks of SHM's that frown on couples who both work. Its a status thing, or something. We had no experience with this whatsoever until we became more involved in church. We've been overseas, in orphanages, etc. I don't feel the need to share my life story with you to justify my observations, let's just say I do my share to aid others, yet I see a real snotty attitude out there that is most saddening. But I trust in the Lord, and he's who leads me, not them. If I insulted you, I do apologize.
I did just that. There is a loose data chart on page 76 that did list your figure. However, if you had read the page a little more carefully, you would have found the word, "estimated" for the most recent year figure (i.e. 2001-2002). Further, you would also have found a more extensive data chart on page 92 where it lists "ESTIMATED AVERAGE ANNUAL SALARIES OF TOTAL INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF AND OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS, 200001 (REVISED) AND 200102." Again, we have the word estimated sticking out at us. Further, the chart lists the average by state and at the top, the total US average. I don't trust this, as I think they simply took a state average, then averaged that, which is a very inaccurate way to measure things.
I went to the web site of the American Federation of Teachers. They listed average salaries for 2000-2001. "According to AFTs survey for the 2000-01 school year, the average beginning teacher salary was $28,986, up 4.4 percent from 1999-2000. The average teacher salary was $43,250, up 3.4 percent from the previous year -- among the smallest increases in 40 years. Teachers had an average 15.8 years of experience." Frankly, I don't trust either data. I think the AFT is about as competent as the NEA and wonder why we have nice charts and a wealth of statistics, but we can't seem to find anyone that can teach math or statistics. My guess is that the median teacher salary is somewhere around $38,000.
Whether teachers are adequately paid for what they do would be a real good debate. I would say that in some ways they are, and in some ways they aren't. I certainly wish teachers were paid more, because that would benefit me greatly. My only point here is that we can't blindly follow the myth that teachers are well paid since they get 3 months off, etc. Go find reasonable estimates of what college gradutes with an average of 15 years of experiece (AFT teacher average), including about 30% who have graduate degrees, earn and then back out 11-12 weeks off their yearly salary. I would bet that teachers still are pretty low on that list.
The problem is that based on the performance, many deserve to be low.
According to the AFT, Texas is 27th in the country in teacher salary (average, I guess). Since that's right in the middle, I would argue that makes specific Texas examples very relevent.
There are good people on both sides. ~true.
Don't think I am being insulting by pointing out 4th grade math, but Median is VERY VERY different than Average...
Absolutely, and the better determination of the true picture. Standard deviation is one of the better indicators, but I'm not getting into that for this!
Picture the average salaries of you, me, the other posters on this specific post and then Alex Rodriquez of the Texas Rangers (25 mil per year). I don't know what you or the other posters make, but I'm sure it isn't anywhere near ARod. His salary would screw the average up, but the median salary would be a better indicator of the data.
Exactly! I expect this couple argued about a lot of things. But the LIBERAL media walks hand in hand with the teachers' unions.
And vice versa!
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