Madison Metropolitan School District's 's latest proposed school budget was officially unveiled on Monday night.

VIDEO: Watch Full Interview | VIDEO: Watch The Report | READ: Lindbergh Parents Vow To Fight For Their School

The budget totals $339 million, features a 1.9 percent increase from last year despite more than $7 million in budget cuts. The tax levy would increase by $13 million. The discussion over the proposed cuts has already been heated and emotional, WISC-TV reported.

Superintendent Art Rainwater said on Monday that he backed the most recent plan for school closings and consolidation dubbed "Plan G," which would have saved the district more than $1 million. The plan would close Lindbergh Elementary School; combine Lapham and Marquette students at Lapham; cut the number of East Side middle schools from three to two by making Blackhawk an elementary school; it would also put alternative programs at Marquette and shuffle students around the East Side.

Rainwater outlined why he thought it was the best of all the plans.

"It just made a better use of our facilities," he said. "Blackhawk was going to be full the day we opened it as a middle school, which you never like to do. And Sherman is a much larger facility. So, it just made a better use of our facilities than did our original recommendation."

Rainwater also defended the plan's increase in class size.

"We won't see the effect of that until the end. For our kindergarteners, we'll experience that 12 years from now, not now. And that's one of the difficulties about education funding. Is that you don't see an immediate impact. And some of our legislators use that, well, look at how well they're doing now. Yes, but we won't be 12 years from now," said Rainwater.

He said that until now, the classroom had essentially been protected, and explained what had changed.

"We've been fortunate that we've been able to maintain the core of our academic programs, our student support programs all these years by reducing other things. But we've actually reached a point now to where it's difficult to do. I mean I don't know where the big savings are in terms of not having to do things that affect children," he said.

Officials said that best way to influence the discussion is to show up at the public hearings scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday of next week, WISC-TV reported.