Between 1973-1979, the elementary educational system in rural areas of Poland has been reorganized into a system of collective commune schools; students commute or are bused to the schools. Since September 1973, 944 new collective commune schools have been set up. A study of the data indicates that the process of setting up collective commune schools has been closely correlated with the degree of socio-economic development of single voivodships (provinces) in the country. In recent years, commutation of children and youth to elementary and secondary schools has increased considerably. Data from 1975 studies by the Main Office of Statistics indicate that 90.5% of commuting elementary school children have their school in the village, and only 9.5% commute to the nearest town. However, 78.2% of the secondary students commute to schools located in towns (which are the centers of higher-than-elementary education). Commutation for elementary school children takes up to half an hour for 80.6%, from half an hour to one hour for 18.0% and over one hour for 1.4%. Because daily commutation to elementary schools is essential to the educational system, commutation of students constitutes an essential component of socio-economic development planning. (CM)