BOSTON — A newly formed group headed by former Massachusetts Education Commissioner Bob Antonucci is vowing to turn back efforts to repeal the state’s Common Core-aligned education standards.

A coalition of teachers, superintendents, parents, businesses and non-profit groups — called the Committee to Protect Educational Excellence in Massachusetts — plans to pour money into swaying voters against the proposed repeal question, which is headed for the November ballot.

Antonucci, a former president of Fitchburg State University who served as the state education chief in the 1990s, said repealing Common Core would undermine educators, harm students, and endanger the nation’s leading education system.

“I cannot think of a tactic more dangerous to our schools and children,” he said. “Taking an ax to all the hard work that’s been done by Massachusetts educators in the past five years would be both financially devastating and horribly disruptive to the state education system.”

Common Core opponents dismissed the efforts, saying voters should decide whether to keep the standards.

“This is just a desperate ploy to protect the special interests and money at the expense of our kids,” said Donna Colorio, founder of Common Core Forum, a nonprofit group leading the repeal effort. “Common Core has really become a cash cow, and people are freaking out about losing money. It’s not about educating our kids.”

Massachusetts was one of the first states in 2010 to adopt Common Core standards that outline key reading, math and critical thinking skills that students should grasp as they progress in school.

The benchmarks were developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, with input from state educators.

Opponents say the standards amount to a federal takeover of local decisions about educating children.

“Educational policy is too important to be decided this way, with little public debate,” Colorio said. “It ignores the very heart of the democratic process and the value of thoughtful, deliberative, inclusive planning.”

The ballot question asks voters to rescind a decision by the state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education five years ago to adopt Common Core for math and English. The ballot initiative says Massachusetts should instead restore curriculum frameworks that were in place prior to the change.

A recent poll by WBZ News and the University of Massachusetts found at least 53 percent of likely voters support removing the controversial Common Core standards. The survey of 890 voters, conducted from Feb. 19 to 29, found 22 percent supported keeping the standards and 25 percent undecided.

Common Core opponents have also drawn momentum from controversy over a standardized test related to Common Core, chosen by education officials to replace MCAS, a hallmark of standardized testing in the state for more than 20 years.

For the past two years, Massachusetts schools have been trying out new standardized tests, the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exams, or PARCC. In November, the Education Board voted to adopt an MCAS/PARCC hybrid.

Common Core supporters say reversing the new standards would be nearly impossible. School districts have spent years retraining teachers, purchasing new textbooks and tailoring their curricula around them.

“Massachusetts sits at or near the top of virtually every ranking in student performance,” Antonucci said.

Antonucci and other supporters filed a lawsuit in January seeking to block the ballot question. Their suit, which is still pending, says the question is vaguely worded, conflicts with state law and not should have been certified by Attorney General Maura Healey and Secretary of State Bill Galvin.

Jack Corrigan, a Boston attorney and longtime Democratic operative who served as manager of the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston, has been tapped as the group’s treasurer, according to a spokesman.

“We’re going to be out there raising funds and helping to educate the public about how important Common Core is to the state,” said Harry-Jacques Pierre, of Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications Inc.

Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican and former member of the state Board of Education, is a Common Core skeptic but remains neutral on the referendum. As a gubernatorial candidate in 2010, Baker argued that the state would forfeit control by doing away with a curriculum that has made it a national leader in education.

President Barack Obama’s administration and national teacher unions back the Common Core standards in English and mathematics. So do 44 states — including Massachusetts and the others in New England.

But at least three states have rejected Common Core — Oklahoma, Indiana and South Carolina — and more than a dozen others are considering doing the same through legislation or at the ballot, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In Massachusetts, those on both sides of the ballot initiative expect a costly fight.

The state places no restrictions on donations to ballot committees. Corporations, interest groups, labor unions and others often get involved, underwriting a deluge of advertising.

To date, supporters of the repeal question have turned in more than 50,000 signatures of registered voters.

The Legislature has until May 3 to preempt the question by repealing the standards, but those backing the referendum say they don’t expect that to happen.

“We’re going to be on the ballot,” Colorio said. “And the voters will finally have a say about Common Core.”

Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach him at cwade@cnhi.com.