The number of school-age children living in poverty is on the rise in Washington state — and in about half of the school districts on the North Olympic Peninsula.

After several years of decline, new U.S. Census Bureau statistics show an increase of about 1.5 percent in 5- to 17-year-olds statewide living in poverty between 2000 and 2003.

An estimated 138,385 school-age children in Washington — about 13 percent — lived in poverty in 2003, the latest year that statistics are available.

Although an analysis of the 2003 data shows that the problem is most pronounced in Central and Eastern Washington, three districts in Jefferson County and two in Clallam County are showing an increase in children below the poverty line.

Poor children tend to have a tougher time in school than more affluent peers. And with more students living in poverty, it could be more difficult for districts to avoid sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

None of the school districts in the North Olympic Peninsula showed poverty rates of more than 25 percent, but the two highest rates were in districts in which the majority of students are Native American — Cape Flattery in Clallam County and Queets-Clearwater in Jefferson.

The majority of students in the Cape Flattery district attend school on the Makah reservation, and almost all of the students in the Queets-Clearwater district attend school on the Quinault reservation, according to the state Department of Education.