Michael Benedetto has lived his entire life in Northeast Bronx. He attended local Catholic primary and secondary schools, and in 1969 he graduated from Iona College with a BA degree in History/Education and in 1971 an MA in Social Studies/Education. Assemblyman Benedetto spent his entire 35 years teaching in the elementary and secondary school level. From 1969 to 1974 he taught at Our Lady of Assumption School in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx. In 1974 he joined the New York Public School system as a teacher of mentally and physically challenged children. In 1977 he was assigned to P.S. 160, The Walt Disney School, in Co-op City in the Bronx and in 1988 he became a coordinator of the special education unit. He remained at P.S. 160 for almost 28 years until being elected to the State Assembly in 2004. 

In 1969, Assemblyman Benedetto started the Throggs Neck Community Players community theater group and served as a member of Community Planning Board #10 from 1975-1979. In 1981 he started the Bronx Times Reporter newspaper which has become the largest community paper in the Bronx. He established a monthly Speakers Forum on issues of community interest and established the Chippewa Lawyers Committee, which offers free legal advice from the Chippewa lawyers to anyone who seeks it. 

In addition to his accomplishments, Assemblyman Benedetto has served on the staff of Councilmembers Michael DeMarco and Madeline Provenzano. He has been a member of AHEPA (a Greek-American organization) since 1989 and served as a member of the Iona College Alumni Board of Directors. As a legislator, Assemblyman Benedetto has focused on educational and child protection issues and has been an ardent supporter of union rights.