Anísio's struggle for public education was sustained over the whole of the 1950s, through conferences, books, manifestos and his public administration engagements. The polemic around the Guidelines and Bases for National Education Law gained more space in the media, the Legislative and professional associations (such as the Brazilian Association for Education - ABE), thanks to his and other educators' spirited intervention.

In public administration, Anísio took office in 1951, in Rio de Janeiro, as Secretary General of the Campaign for Higher Education Staff Improvement, invited by Minister Simões Filho. He would later turn the Campaign into the Committee for Higher Education Staff Improvement (CAPES). The following year, succeeding Murilo Braga, he would also accumulate responsibilities as head of the National Institute for Pedagogical Studies (INEP), until 1964.