Christine Quinn’s education speech proposes axing textbooks, extending school until 6 p.m.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced a fleet of education proposals this morning, including extending the school day and axing textbooks and using tablets instead.

Quinn targeted the education system with her speech at the New School.

The Speaker is battling to be the next mayor, facing an ever-growing list of competitors to replace Mayor Michael Bloomberg when he finishes his term next year.

Her proposals, which she vowed would cost less than $300 million, included appointing a deputy mayor for education and children.

She also wants to make the school day longer, keeping students until 6 p.m. five days a week in schools with the highest percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

No more textbooks would be needed under her plan – instead, students would use tablets.

And she envisions a program to mentor teachers, where teachers would have a two-year leave from the classroom to train other educators.

Quinn would also identify the best schools in the city and how they run, hoping to replicate those best practices in all schools.

She also suggested a “red alert” system to highlight schools that are struggling before they are closed by the city.

And she waded into a controversial education topic – testing. She said she wanted the New York City school system to be less reliant on testing.