Hundreds of New York City private and parochial schools will receive taxpayer-funded security guards, under legislation to be approved today by the City Council.

The bill was approved on Friday by the council's public safety committee. Its primary backer, Brooklyn councilman David Greenfield, originally wanted regular public school security officers, who are part of the NYPD, to patrol private schools at an annual cost of more than $50 million. But under a compromise reached late last month with Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration, the price tag was cut by more than half to $19.8 million. Only schools with at least 300 students will be reimbursed for hiring private guards who are paid a prevailing wage.

The vote follows recent mass shootings in Paris and California. But Greenfield said he started lobbying for it three years ago.

"I introduced this legislation originally post-Sandy Hook, when it was clear that nonpublic schools do not have the protections that the public schools had," he said, referring to the Connecticut school shooting in which 20 children were killed and six adults. But he acknowledged the timing makes it especially poignant.

"It's another reminder how the world has changed in the last few years that terrorism is on the rise. And so it's another benefit of having security, but that was not the impetus."

Greenfield represents Borough Park, which includes many Jewish schools, but he said Muslim and Catholic schools also supported the legislation. He said they are all concerned about bias crimes. According to the NYPD, there have been 267 hate crimes reported through November 22 compared to 288 during the same period last year.

The bill has been criticized by the New York Civil Liberties Union for using city dollars to pay for guards at private and religious schools that already charge tuition to their students.

"To suggest that these private, sectarian institutions that receive monetary support from their students and private donors should be financially supported by the city as well is not only bad policy, it is an example of unconstitutional government support for religious institutions," said the NYCLU's advocacy director Johanna Miller.

The Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, which represents principals and guidance counselors, also criticized the bill for using dollars that could otherwise be spent on public schools.