Cannot pass SelectedValue and Text to Controller for a KendoUIDropDownListFor widget - asp.net-mvc-4

Question

This works fine if I don't use any KendoUI functionality and am able to pass it easily using a regular Html.DropDownListfor helper (seen as comments in the code). The Description and the StatusID both do not come through.
How can I pass these values to the controller after selecting them in the dropdown list and then clicking enter with the KendoUI extension?
If I uncomment the Value and Text properties, I get "Object not set to an instance of an Object".
#using (Html.BeginForm("AddSingleStatus", "Status", new AjaxOptions { HttpMethod = "POST", }))
{
#Html.ValidationSummary(true)
<table>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="display-label">
#Html.LabelFor(model => Model.Description);
</div>
<div class="display-label" style="display: none;">
#Html.HiddenFor(model => Model.Description)
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
#(Html.Kendo().DropDownListFor(model => Model.StatusID)
.Name("statusDropDownList")
.DataTextField("Description")
.DataValueField("StatusID")
.DataSource(source =>
{
source.Read(read =>
{
read.Action("ReadDDL", "Status");
})
.ServerFiltering(false);
})
.OptionLabel("Select a status")
.SelectedIndex(0)
.Events(e => e
.Change("dropdownlist_change")
)
)
#* #Html.DropDownListFor(model => Model.StatusID, new SelectList((YeagerTechModel.Status[])ViewData["statuses"], "StatusID", "Description"));*#
#*#Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => Model.StatusID)*#
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<input type="submit" id="ddlSubmit" value='#Resources.Add' />
</td>
</tr>
</table>
}
<script type="text/javascript">
function dropdownlist_change()
{
var dropdownlist = $("#statusDropDownList").data("kendoDropDownList");
dropdownlist.bind("change", function (e)
{
var value = dropdownlist.value();
});
}
</script>