New WI budget shifts 100% of school funds to Milwaukee prosecutors

New WI budget shifts 100% of school funds to Milwaukee prosecutors

Editor’s note: This story was corrected to reflect that the 12 assistant district attorney positions are existing positions funded by expiring federal funding, not new positions. A provision in the recently passed state budget that diverts $2.2 million annually from schools to fund 12 Milwaukee County prosecutors may violate the Wisconsin Constitution, that had been paid for with federal funding set to expire. The budget act redirects all traffi…

Budget diverts $2.2 million annually from Milwaukee schools

Click here to read highlights from the story Wisconsin’s latest budget diverts 100% of funds from the Common School Fund to pay for 12 assistant district attorneys in Milwaukee. The constitution requires net proceeds from a county’s traffic fines and forfeitures to go to the Common School Fund. A 1973 Supreme Court ruling found the Legislature can’t have a nominal amount of that money go toward the school fund, which pays for school library bo…