In order for education to be truly progressive, it is necessary to recognize that some innovations are merely ideas resurrected from the past. An example of this is bilingual education, which is growing in popularity throughout the country as a means of instructing non-English speaking children. An examination of historical documents reveals that bilingual education was a reality in California as early as the mid-1860's in San Francisco's Cosmopolitan School. In recognition of the young child's language learning facility, French, German, Spanish, and English were taught, and classes in other subject areas were taught in several languages. Thus, the current trend of bilingual educational research and experimentation would be benefitted if the educators involved recognized the difference between those ideas which are new and those which are not, in order to gain from experience. (LG)