Bill Gates’ $5 billion plan is worded in very familiar terms. Before he began conquering the world of operating systems with his Windows product as Microsoft co-founder and CEO, he declared that his goal was “to put a computer in every home.”

Today, Gates is proposing a different type of revolution to usher in development and progress in the educational system. He is proposing that the country spend $5 billion so that every teacher in every classroom in every school district can be filmed in action. This way, they can be evaluated and possibly critiqued in order to help them improve.

In a report by Fast Company, this is similar to what actors and athletes do when they record themselves to see how they behave in their respective professional settings, in action.

In a talk that Gates gave for a TED/PBS special, which will be aired on May 7 and was filmed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music last April 5, Gates discussed the plan to tape teachers, its $5 billion (est) price tag and the pilot program he funded, Measures of Effective Teaching. The program was used with 3,000 teachers in seven districts. It reported three years of findings in January on a teaching evaluation system that combines test scores, student evaluations, and classroom assessments. Impartial observers graded teachers included in the program.

The idea of reevaluating how teachers are tested is spreading. However, it remains controversial – even without the privacy issues involved in filming the classroom. Gates acknowledged this and said, “I know some teachers aren’t immediately comfortable with a camera in the classroom." He then mentioned that such situation could be overcome by allowing teachers to pick which lessons they want filmed – which would seem to undermine the validity of any findings.

States and districts have spent millions of dollars overhauling teacher evaluation systems, only to see district ratings amongst 97, 98 or 100% of teachers as “satisfactory” or better.

In his talk, Gates emphasized the idea of using the feedback system he proposes to help teachers do their job better. “We need a system that helps all our teachers be as good as the best,” Gates said. He declared, “Our teachers deserve better feedback.”