Schools

Teacher, Union Leader Says Goodbye After 44 Years

English and drama teacher Marti Franks has already left her post as teachers' union president and will retire from Twinsburg High School at the end of the year.

When Marti Franks began her teaching career in 1967, it wasn’t exactly her first choice.

Franks initially wanted to be a journalist, because her father was a newspaper writer, but she dropped that notion after one class.

“I just sort of wandered into education and once I got there I loved it,” Franks said.

An interesting statement from the Detroit native, who said she hated school when she was young, dropping out of both kindergarten and the first grade. But now, after 44 years of doing what she still loves, the constant pressure of the profession has led this English and drama teacher to her own curtain call.

“It’s an extremely complicated and complex job where your constantly being asked to make decisions, hundreds of times a day and hundreds of times an hour,” Franks said. “I could probably do it for another year, but I don’t think I’d serve the kids well.”

Franks started in Twinsburg as a tutor until a temporary job opened up. That temporary position has lasted her for the past 26 years, working as a teacher and leader of the union.

Her father was a sports editor for the Detroit Times, and also a member of the union. When the paper was sold, because of the union he was given a year’s severance, compared to the rest of his peers, who only got two weeks.

“My father said, ‘Wherever you go, look for the union,’” Franks recalled. She was part of the group responsible for unionizing employees at Aquinas High School in Southgate, MI, the first Catholic school teachers union in the state.  That precedent followed her to Twinsburg.

“As soon as I got here I said, ‘Where’s the union? I gots to belong to the union,’” Franks said. She worked her way up to the president’s position, a seat she’s filled for the past 20 years. She retired from the Twinsburg Education Association on April 1, relinquishing her position to Nora Suder-Riley.

Franks’ brightest and darkest moment as a union leader was the near-strike in 2003. She was proud to see her fellow teachers unite together, but her hatred of strikes made it a tough situation.

“We cleaned out our desks, we were that close,” Franks said. “And that’s the closest we ever came, and we’ve never come that close again.”

One of her favorite parts over the years has been working with a variety of teachers who believe they are making a difference in education and in students’ lives.

“I’d say 99 percent of the work I do with the union has nothing to do with negotiating or money,” Franks said. “It has to do with making these schools strong for every student everywhere.”

As a teacher, Franks believes that educators have the ability to affect students both positively and negatively.

“What I do and what happens in my classroom can have far, far-reaching effects,” Franks said.

She recalled several stories of students who have come up to her, recalling their days in her classroom and reciting things she said to them, some of which she has no recollection of.

One of her former students, now a filmmaker in Los Angeles, said during an interview at the Cleveland Film Festival that next to his mother, Franks has inspired him the most.

“I said, ‘Me?’ I had no notion,” Franks said.

After her years of teaching are over, Franks said she hopes to continue working on her novel, eventually finishing, or throwing out and starting from scratch. She also wants to continue to work a little, but would love to use her time to travel around the United States and spend more time with her three grandchildren.

Even though she can tell her time is up in teaching, she knows she will miss all the students and educators she has worked alongside for the past 44 years.

“The kids and the colleagues; the people,” Franks said. “Teachers are the most exciting, interesting, generous people in the world. The kids challenge you and aggravate you, but they just keep reminding you what is going on in the world. They keep you grounded.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Twinsburg