For a reporter who is not officially on the education beat, Alec MacGillis of ProPublica finds plenty to keep him busy, going deep into stories about how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt in all aspects of lives of students and their school communities.

He joins EWA Radio to discuss his two newest pieces: a close look at a private company providing outreach services tracking down absent students in the hard-hit school systems of Detroit's outer suburbs, and how private and parochial schools are cashing in on the funding bonanza of new and expanded school voucher programs that open the door to every student – regardless of family income.