He was also responsible for pushing through the top-up fee legislation for the UK's university sector.
It costs £25m of public money to build a city academy, and unlike state schools, which are penalised financially for excluding pupils, city academies can exclude whoever they want to. Officially they're not allowed to be selective, but the lack of penalties for exclusion is a fine loophole for that.
Adonis escaped the public sector by winning a scholarship to a posh boarding school from a council flat, and I'd guess his idea of equal opportunity is giving everyone else a chance to do the same.