New York City prohibits the use of public school facilities for regular religious services. That policy makes sense for buildings that are used and maintained by taxpayers. But the City Council wants to eliminate that policy through a new state law. It voted 38 to 11 on Wednesday to pass a resolution asking the Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to approve legislation to permit religious services on public school properties when they are not in use.

This misguided idea could turn public schools into houses of worship, essentially funded by city government. The issue has gone back and forth in federal courts since the 1990s. After the Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that school districts could not discriminate and exclude student bible clubs from using schools during nonschool hours, the Bronx Household of Faith church claimed religious discrimination and got a court to issue an injunction against New York City’s policy. That injunction was overturned in 2011. Then last year, a federal court held in another case that the policy was unconstitutional; that ruling is being appealed. Meantime, some 40 congregations now use school buildings for regular Sunday services.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, has argued repeatedly that this resolution and state legislation must be defeated “in the interests of religious freedom.” Separation of church and state under the First Amendment, she said, rests on the understanding that “religious freedom is better protected when the government is prohibited from favoring any particular religion or favoring believers over nonbelievers.”

It is highly disturbing that most City Council members seem to be unfamiliar with this constitutional principle.