[4] In parallel with her teaching job, between 1972 and 1974 Schmidt studied successfully for a degree in Special School Pedagogy ("Sonderschulpädagogik") at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg.
Nevertheless, the East German CDU was not entirely without influence, and was allocated a fixed quota of around 50 seats in the National Parliament ("Volkskammer") even though general elections from 1949 until 1990 always resulted in more than 99% of the reported votes having been cast in support of the single candidate list provided by the ruling party.
For Christa Schmidt, between 1979 and 1989 CDU party membership was accompanied by a role as a deputy in the Central Leipzig City Assembly, where she worked on the Commission of Training and Education.
On 9 May 1990 Christa Schmidt presented a report to the responsible parliamentary committee on some of her ministerial objectives: "Although equal rights have been anchored in the constitution since 1949, they are not enforced.
Und das bedeutet, das familiale und öfflentiche Leben darf sich nicht mehr nach dem Prinzip der Unterordnung, sondern muß sich nach dem Prinzip von Partnerschaft gestalten.
The powerful performance of the CDU meant that the task of forming a new East German government fell to the party chairman, Lothar de Maizière.
[2] In 1991 Christa Schmidt resumed her work as an education professional, becoming vice-president of the Upper School Office (Oberschulamt) in Leipzig.
[2] During 1992/93 she set up in the regional Saxony Culture Ministry a state institute for teachers of special needs and primary schools, herself taking on the role of its head.