Should a college professor present a Democrat voter guide in class without also providing a Republican perspective? No, but that’s exactly what Miami Dade College Professor Sandra Castillo has been doing in her classroom, according to audio obtained and reviewed by Red Alert Politics.
The recorded conversation took place outside a local polling place between the American History professor and a Democrat volunteer during early voting.
The audio starts with a discussion about obtaining campaign signs and a T-shirt; Castillo then tells the Democrat volunteer that she just took her students to vote.
“I just took my students to vote … we went through all the amendments!” she exclaims. The volunteer responds, “Yes on 4, I hope!”, referring to Florida’s Amendment 4, which deals with the restoration of felons’ voting rights.
“Voter restoration, absolutely. They know about disenfranchisement,” Castillo replies.
The conversation trails until the volunteer mentions that she believes the amendments should be bipartisan. Castillo mentions her class and describes how she explained the amendments to her students.
“And some of [the amendments] are just so ridiculous, honestly … I just kind of said this is the Democratic position, so I imagine the Republican is the opposite,” Castillo says before laughing.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I don’t think so!” the Democrat volunteer pushes back.
Red Alert Politics reached out to Castillo for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Two MDC students, who wish to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation affecting their grades, overheard Castillo’s remarks at the polls and told me that “professors should be neutral,” but it was “clearly not the case” with Castillo.
One freshman MDC student commented that she felt Castillo’s actions were “really unfair.”
“At first, I thought, 'Good, she’s getting that young vote out there.' But when I realized she was only giving out information for the Democratic Party and pushing towards them, it felt really unfair like she was giving a biased opinion. She wasn’t giving the students the opportunity to make a choice by being completely one-sided.”
Castillo’s political bias in the classroom is a trend, according to Rate My Professor reviews. Several call Castillo “unorganized,” and two scathing reviews call her out on her political bias.
One reads: “When she doesn't get overly emotional and political she is a okay lecturer. But she has no control over the classroom during class discussions and lets students get yelled over. She also ignores many important areas of American history and seems to focus only on racial matters.”