The Barona Band of Mission Indians has donated more than $300,000 to schools in California.

The tribe doesn't select the public or private schools that receive a Barona Education Grant. The schools are picked by state lawmakers, a practice that some say amounts to a political favor.

"We figure that a legislator knows best about the needs of a school in their district," Sheilla Alvarez, the tribe's director of government affairs, told The San Diego Union Tribune.

The program is popular though not every lawmaker takes part. "I wish more organizations would do that," Assemblyman Joel Anderson, a Republican, told the paper.

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Critics say Barona grants are misused (The San Diego Union Tribune 7/18)