Most kids only go to school half a day so going up until Christmas doesn't seem like a bad idea to me. They do get a couple months of summer vacation time.
And while strikes generally don't affect private schools, if the school is subsidized (as many private schools are) then any changes in teacher pay will indeed affect the school. Even if teacher salaries are mostly subsidized, the remaining 20% or whatever the school pays will go up. That doesn't necessarily mean cuota prices will go up, since from what I've seen the government isn't very willing to allow subsidized private schools to raise their monthly fee despite government decisions that affect them. I suppose that's the price a private school must pay to stay in business and continue to be subsidized - private schools in poor areas really don't have much of a choice since going totally private would be an impossibility.
I have to say I'm rather disappointed with teachers and general education system here. (And I'm not talking about fancy completely private schools, but rather the majority of schools - public and subsidized private, at least from my experience out in provincia). Teachers work half a day and often work for different schools... directors and administrators, as well. Teachers quit/leave in the middle of the school year like it's no big deal and take time off for everything. Schools start the school year missing teachers - positions that have to be filled quickly and without much training or guidance. They don't do many of the tasks that are expected of teachers elsewhere. Setting hours is a juggling act which can get tricky. And there is no cooperation, communication, or 'black-list' for substandard teachers and administrators between schools.
Now Scioli is an idiot. He recently tried to pass legislation that would have made it so that substitute teachers would be not be paid by the government in subsidized-private schools... yet the rules for when teachers can take off work are so loose, that if a teacher gets a doctor to sign off that she needs 6 months off for a broken foot, the school would be left having to pick up the bill for the substitute. His argument was that this was to stop teacher absenteeism, but teachers don't care who pays for the substitute. Whether it's the government or the school it doesn't matter to them. There are semi-private schools that can pick up the extra costs, those in nicer areas perhaps that have less of a subsidy, but many of the private schools out in provincia aren't luxury schools... they are simply a step up from the public schools. The monthly cuota at the school I worked at is less than $400 pesos a month - government pays 80% of teacher salaries. All other staff and maintenance is paid for by the school. It's not like these semi-private schools are making a killing.
The whole system needs an overhaul in my opinion... from the school day (seriously, 4 hours of school with recess and specials?) to this odd system where teachers/directors/admins work for various schools.
