In 1945 and 1948, Benson spoke to congressional committees opposing federal funding for state and local education. While acknowledging educational deficiencies, he argued that the real need was for local school districts to "set our own house in order, rather than asking for Federal aid to keep a disorderly house supplied with unnecessary funds". He characterized Federal "aid" to states as merely a return of taxes paid by those states and "weighted with a group of bureaucrats and political hangers-on", and that such "aid" would lead to increased federal government control. In 1946 Benson debated Dr. Ralph Norton of Columbia University on the topic of federal aid to education.
