Respected former education secretary Estelle Morris will take charge of improving performance at city schools in her new role as head of the Birmingham Education Partnership.
The partnership, a rapidly growing group of more than 300 school headteachers, has appointed Baroness Morris of Yardley as chairman as it takes over responsibility for school improvement from the city council.
The authority has handed over the £11.7 million school improvement budget for the partnership to invest in turning round struggling schools, including those embroiled in the Trojan Horse scandal.
Baroness Morris, a former Coventry school teacher, was Yardley MP from 1992 to 2005 and an education minister in Tony Blair's government for five years, including one year as secretary of state. She also spent two years as minister for the arts.
It is a major coup for the Birmingham Education Partnership (BEP) to secure a major figure in politics and education to guide it.
Baroness Morris said: "This is a most exciting time in the history of Birmingham's education.
The creation of BRP is an important milestone on the journey towards a model where schools are responsible for their own improvement and the improvement of others.
"All of the research tells us this works best and you have many teaching schools and leaders of education to draw on.
"But schools must not be isolated from each other and need to be part of a wider education community. Trojan Horse taught us that lesson."
She said the partnership would build relations with universities, the council and business to drive improvement in performance and added that the aim was to grow and take on more responsibility for education in Birmingham as the council's influence dwindles.
Current interim chairman Tim Boyes, headteacher of Queensbridge School in Moseley, said: "Estelle will bring a level of wisdom, experience and critical challenge that will be crucial as BEP moves to the next stage of working with schools across the city to build a genuinely school led system for Birmingham."
Sir Mike Tomlinson, the education commissioner for Birmingham appointed in the wake of Trojan Horse, said: "I welcome this decision by Birmingham City Council.
"It is crucial that these new arrangements prove effective for all schools in Birmingham and I will continue to work closely with the council to ensure they have the support they need.
"This model of school to school working has proved to be effective in other parts of England."
