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| Christenson accepts the DFL nomination for lieutenant governor. (From A Minnesota Citizen, Stories from the Life and Times of Jerry Christenson) |
St. Paul, Minn. — Former Gov. Wendell Anderson, who appointed him state planning director, says the impact of Gerald Christenson's work is widespread.
"He was, in my judgment, in the past 35 years, he had more impact on Minnesota policy than any elected or appointed official," according to Anderson.
Christenson helped design the state's school funding system. It was called the Minnesota Miracle because it shifted most of the responsibility of funding public education to the state.
Christenson wrote his PhD thesis on the funding disparity. During a recent interview at his home in Arden Hills, Christenson says before then schools were getting about two thirds of their revenue from local property taxes.
"Those that had the most wealth were getting more property tax base, and those, some would say bedroom communities like Anoka, were getting worse and was only going to get worse," he said.
Winning approval for the idea required support from Republicans who then controlled the Legislature.
Christenson says the Minnesota Miracle wouldn't have happened without the support of the late Stanley Holmquist, a former school superintendent who was the speaker of the House.
"He said, 'Wendy, I've got to make a choice, I've got to do what's best for my party or best for the kids of Minnesota and what's best for the kids is your program.' So his support was absolutely crucial," he said.
Less well known to Minnesotans is Gerald Christenson's role in creating a massive federal youth employment program in the turbulent l960s.
Before his various Minnesota public service posts Christenson was chief of staff in Washington, D.C. to Minnesota Congressman Joe Karth.
Vice President Hubert Humphrey appointed Christenson to a federal position and assigned him to create a summer jobs program for inner-city young people.
Up to that point Christenson said Congress' response to the urban riots by black youth amounted to shoveling money into the street.
"They meant well but because there was no organization, no planning, no structure some of that, a lot of that money was wasted," he said.
Christenson says he recruited executives from the country's largest companies to commit to hire unemployed youth.
"We got commitments for thousands of jobs and we also provided training. We said, 'don't just hire them and leave them, they need to succeed in those jobs, they need to be connected up for the future,'" he said.
When Richard Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey in the 1968 presidential contest the victorious Republicans sent most of the Democrats packing. They kept Gerald Christenson on for a few months to oversee the continuation of the youth employment program. Vice President Spiro Agnew gave him a set of cufflinks to honor his work winning Christenson ribbing from fellow Democrats when he returned to Minnesota.
While chancellor of the state's community colleges Christenson created a scholarship program. People who qualified could take one community college class free. He said it was a way to attract people back to school for more training. During one of the medical visits for treatment of the cancer that ended his life Christenson met a nurse who told him she'd used the scholarship to go back to college for her degree.
Christenson continued to meet until the end of his life with his long time friend, former Minnesota Congressman and Minneapolis mayor Don Fraser to talk over early childhood education ideas.
"He was always very creative, very thoughtful, thought very carefully but he was always willing to look at new ideas and often he developed the new ideas," according to Fraser.
Family members say the memorial service for Gerald Christenson is set for Monday evening in White Bear Lake.
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