Aha!
I see what you are trying to do.
Here is how I solve that, really it needs to be another widget that generates two elements.
{foo_inform:text(inform) {value $foo} }
{foo:text(hidden) {value $foo}
I want to show the value, but not allow editing, and I need to pass it along for processing.
I guess this is redundant, you already figured this out?