Antonio's LAU$D

Well, if Mayor Villaraigosa's clusters -- oops, they're now called "families" -- of schools fail, it won't be for lack of money. Today real-estate developers Richard and Melanie Lundquist are donating $50 million to the Partnership for Los Angles Schools, Antonio's nonprofit organization that will run two high schools and the middle and elementary schools that feed into them. This is the biggest donation yet in Antonio's prodigious effort to raise money for his schools, which has included contributions from numerous other heavy hitters.

And as long as the money is spent on pencils and paper, great, right? But let's not forget that Villaraigosa has staked his political future on the success of these schools. If the schools succeed, so will Villaraigosa's future political ambitions. In a way, then, these donations are somewhat like campaign contributions to the mayor himself -- albeit contributions that aren't regulated under existing campaign-finance law.

Now, it's possible that when real-estate developers give the mayor of Los Angeles (and possible future governor of California) a huge chunk of money that will boost his political prospects, they're expecting nothing in return.

Possible ... but doubtful.