republic-os/legislation/us/states/ga/2015-16/sr-287.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Opportunity School District; allow the General Assembly to authorize the establishment; provide for state intervention for failing schools -CA"
description: "A RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Georgia so as to allow the General Assembly to authorize the establishment of an Opportunity School District to provide for state intervention for failing schools; to provide for related matters; to provide for the submission of this amendment for ratification or rejection; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2015_16"
identifier: "SR 287"
citation: "Georgia SR 287 (2015_16)"
classification: ["resolution"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ben Watson", "Bill Cowsert", "Bill Heath", "Brandon Beach", "Bruce Thompson", "Burt Jones", "Butch Miller", "Charlie Bethel", "Chuck Hufstetler", "David Shafer", "Dean Burke", "Ellis Black", "Fran Millar", "Frank Ginn", "Freddie Powell Sims", "Greg Kirk", "Hunter Hill", "Jack Hill", "Jeff Mullis", "Jesse Stone", "John Albers", "John Kennedy", "John Wilkinson", "Joshua McKoon", "Judson Hill", "Lindsey Tippins", "Marty Harbin", "Michael Williams", "Mike Dugan", "P. K. Martin IV", "Renee Unterman", "Rick Jeffares", "Ross Tolleson", "Steve Gooch", "Tommie Williams", "Tyler Harper", "William Jackson", "William Ligon, Jr."]
version_count: 9
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2015-02-18"
last_action: "2015-05-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6ab523f0-9de4-434b-8a98-0a5bd2a4ac7f"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "2a15dd6a976df129c8e89a6e75e817c87901e7565216ec34b616defdfc447190"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ga"]
---

# Georgia SR 287 (2015_16) — Opportunity School District; allow the General Assembly to authorize the establishment; provide for state intervention for failing schools -CA

A RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Georgia so as to allow the General Assembly to authorize the establishment of an Opportunity School District to provide for state intervention for failing schools; to provide for related matters; to provide for the submission of this amendment for ratification or rejection; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Adopted Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/150295.pdf)
2. **As introduced LC 33 5927-EC** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/148454.pdf)
3. **Committee sub LC 33 6080-ECS** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/149711.pdf)
4. **Floor amend 1 AM 33 1510** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/150222.pdf)
5. **Floor amend 2 AM 33 1508** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/150240.pdf)
6. **Floor amend 3 AM 33 1514** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/150246.pdf)
7. **Floor amend 4 AM 33 1517** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/150265.pdf)
8. **Floor amend 5 AM 33 1513** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/150266.pdf)
9. **SR 287/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/152973.pdf)

## Votes

- ADOPTION OF AMENDMENT #2 BY SENATOR FROM THE 39TH TO COMMITTEE SUB — **16–36** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- Ben Watson — primary (person)
- Bill Cowsert — primary (person)
- Bill Heath — primary (person)
- Brandon Beach — primary (person)
- Bruce Thompson — primary (person)
- Burt Jones — primary (person)
- Butch Miller — primary (person)
- Charlie Bethel — primary (person)
- Chuck Hufstetler — primary (person)
- David Shafer — primary (person)
- Dean Burke — primary (person)
- Ellis Black — primary (person)
- Fran Millar — primary (person)
- Frank Ginn — primary (person)
- Freddie Powell Sims — primary (person)
- Greg Kirk — primary (person)
- Hunter Hill — primary (person)
- Jack Hill — primary (person)
- Jeff Mullis — primary (person)
- Jesse Stone — primary (person)
- John Albers — primary (person)
- John Kennedy — primary (person)
- John Wilkinson — primary (person)
- Joshua McKoon — primary (person)
- Judson Hill — primary (person)
- Lindsey Tippins — primary (person)
- Marty Harbin — primary (person)
- Michael Williams — primary (person)
- Mike Dugan — primary (person)
- P. K. Martin IV — primary (person)
- Renee Unterman — primary (person)
- Rick Jeffares — primary (person)
- Ross Tolleson — primary (person)
- Steve Gooch — primary (person)
- Tommie Williams — primary (person)
- Tyler Harper — primary (person)
- William Jackson — primary (person)
- William Ligon, Jr. — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2015-02-18** Senate Hopper
- **2015-02-19** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2015-03-03** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2015-03-04** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2015-03-05** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2015-03-05** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2015-03-09** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2015-03-11** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2015-03-24** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2015-03-25** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2015-03-25** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2015-03-25** House Immediately Transmitted to Senate
- **2015-04-09** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2015-05-12** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2015-05-12** Act 309 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6ab523f0-9de4-434b-8a98-0a5bd2a4ac7f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).